News & Views item - February 2007

 

 

Excavations on Flores to Recommence. (February 23, 2007)

    The Indonesian authorities have granted permission for excavations to once again be undertaken at Liang Bua Cave on the island of Flores. They are to start in May according to University of Wollongong's Mike Morwood who will be a co-director of the team attempting to gain additional evidence with regard to the species classification of Flores man (those contentious Hobbits). He hopes his team will find "fresh" material which might contain analysable DNA.

 

In addition, Indonesian and Australian researchers led by Michael Gagan of Australian National University plan to return in June to a chamber below Liang Bua that contains bone material first discovered in August last year.