In a major new addition to the Bradshaw Foundation website the Journey of Mankind genetic map, based on the work of Professor Stephen Oppenheimer, exploring the peopling of the world over the last 160,000 years.

	Latest News [ Back To News Index ] For more news articles click the News Index link above. Hobbit at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History Professor Stephen Oppenheimer attended the archaeological conference in Australia in December 2004 on the 'floresiensis' discovery, and was joined in Oxford for discussion by Foundation Chairman Damon de Laszlo and Coordinator John Robinson. Homo floresiensis, dubbed ‘the hobbit’ by the media, has arrived in Oxford. A replica of the skull of this recently described diminutive species of the genus Homo, to which we, Homo sapiens, belong, is currently on display in the University Museum of Natural History. The remains of several individuals were discovered in cave deposits in the island of Flores in the Indonesian archipelago, and were described in Nature in October 2004. Homo floresiensis was one metre tall (just over three feet) – the same size as a three-year-old of our species. It lived until 18,000 years ago, and was a contemporary of the human inhabitants of the region, although there is as yet no evidence that they ever met. The replica was provided by Professor Peter Brown of the University of Armidale, New South Wales, and will be incorporated into the permanent displays of the Museum. Photographs (left to right) Stephen Oppenheimer, Damon de Laszlo and John Robinson examine the Homo floresiensis skull. (Below) Homo floresiensis on display at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. [ Back To News Index ]