A team of archaeologists affiliated with the University College Dublin,
have unearthed three skeletons from a previously unknown humanoid
species of extremely small size in a wooded area of Eastern Ireland. The
specimens measuring between 47 and 61 centimeters are presumably from
an entirely new species of humanoid, distinct from modern humans, which
would have survived until the 12th or 13th century AD.
The bones which were presumably
partially unearthed by a recent rainfall, and were found by three local
children who were playing in the area. The young boys immediately
contacted the police, believing they had found the remains of murdered
children. The medical examiner called on the site, rapidly understood
that this was not a modern crime scene, but seemed instead to be an
unusual archeological site. He contacted the University College Dublin
to ask for help, and the institution sent Professor Edward James McInnes
to analyze the discovery.
The bodies of two females and one male
were discovered with a small number of artefacts in what appeared to
have been a small settlement, near the banks of the river Boyne. The
team of archaeologists led by Professor McInnes, has named the species Homo minusculus, which means either ‘Tiny Man’ or ‘Is small in comparison’.
This
tiny axe blade was found near the body of the male individual. It is
presumed to have been used as both a weapon and a tool.
Various small stone Tools and
weapons were found near the bodies, including an axe, two knives, a
spear point and even two miniature sewing needles. These items suggest
that the Homo Minisculus had only reached a technological level
comparable to human hunters-gatherers from the Paleolithic period, as no
pottery or metal items have been found on the site. Many bones from
various small animals including squirrels, hares, moles and
hedgehogs were found near the settlement, many of which bore traces of
cooking.
The various dating analyses realized on
the bones and artefacts have shown that they dated from somewhere
between 1145 and 1230 AD, which means that the species would have
coexisted with modern humans for more than 45000 years. This amazing
discovery suggests than many tales and stories from the Middle Ages
which were considered as fantastic by historians, could indeed be based
on real facts. Homo minusculus could have inspired stories of leprechauns, elves and brownies that are common in European folklore.
Professor McInnes and his team believe that Homo minusculus could have disappeared due to the destruction of its habitat by surrounding human communities.
It remains unclear at the moment if Homo
Minusculus evolved from Homo erectus, from Homo sapiens idaltu or even
from Homo sapiens sapiens, but its morphological similarities with
modern humans suggest that it evolved as a separate subspecies towards
the end of human lineage.
The explanation for its small size also
remains a mystery, but Professor McInnes believes it could be linked to
the scarcity of resources during the most recent glacial period which
extended the last years of the Pleistocene, from approximately 110,000
to 12,000 years ago.
After the discovery of the Homo Floresiensis
(that would have stood about 1.1 m in height) in 2003, on the island of
Flores in Indonesia, a human subspecies which is believed to have gone
extinct about 30000 years ago, this new find proves that many other
hominin subspecies did indeed coexist with modern humans for thousands
of years.
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Although this post IS NOT an 'article' from The ONION you might want to take it with a few grains of salt. There are still mysteries lurking out there in the swirling mists of time about we humans, but this 'discovery' may not be one of them, then again, it just might be, so as said above whatever amount of salt you need to get this to go down - use it.
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