Excavators in the Liang Bua Cave uncovered the LB1 skeleton in 2003. The skeleton represents an individual of around 1.2 m in stature, with a brain size of around 420 ml, that lived sometime around 65,000 years ago. The skeleton is the holotype of the species Homo floresiensis.

The LB1 skull is remarkable in several ways. Its small size makes it the smallest fossil representative of the genus Homo yet known. The anatomy of the skeleton has a mosaic of features found in other species of Homo as well as some features that are more characteristic of Australopithecus. It is not clear which of these featuresof the skeleton reflect its small size, and which ones may be markers of relationship with other species.

This makes it unclear what the ancestor of H. floresiensis may have been. Some features suggest it may be a descendant of early Homo erectus, which is known from the nearby island of Java throughout the Pleistocene. But many features appear to be hard to explain with this hypothesis, leading some to favor the idea that H. floresiensis came from an early dispersal from Africa of Homo habilis or even some form of Australopithecus. Some scientists suggest that the skeleton manifests pathologies that make its anatomy a poor guide to its relationships.

This virtual lab has a model of the LB1 cranium, a model of the Sangiran 17 Homo erectus cranium, the Sts 5 calvaria of Australopithecus africanus, and a modern human. As you examine the LB1 skull, consider the following questions:

• Are there any features that suggest a relationship between the LB1 skull and Sangiran 17?
• Which of the comparative skulls is most like the LB1 skull?
• Many features of the skull may be related to its small size. Are there features that you would argue may not be strongly affected by small body or brain size in the LB1 cranium?

Materials in this lab

• The original LB1 cranium is curated at ARKENAS National Archaeology Institute, Jakarta, Indonesia. The model in this virtual lab is based upon measurements and photographs of the original specimen and casts.
• The original Sangiran 17 fossil cranium is curated at the Geological Research and Development Centre, Bandung, Indonesia. The model in this virtual lab is based upon measurements and photographs of casts and the original specimen.
• The original Sts 5 fossil is curated at the Ditsong Museum of Natural History in Pretoria, South Africa. The model in this virtual lab is based upon a data from a cast in the Biological Anthropology collection of UW-Madison.
• The model of the human calvaria is based on an anatomical model created by Hannah Newey. The model is available on Sketchfab with a Creative Commons Non-Commercial Share-alike (CC-BY-NC-SA) license. I reduced the polygon count of the model for this virtual lab.

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