--- title: Indonesian 'Hobbits' Died Out Longer Ago Than Thought: Study description: New findings raise questions about their disappearance canonical: https://time.com/4276737/indonesian-hobbit-liang-bua/ author: Daniel White article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-30T19:13:16.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T16:20:04.859Z article:section: Science og:title: Indonesian 'Hobbits' Died Out Longer Ago Than Originally Thought, Study Finds og:description: New findings raise questions about their disappearance og:url: https://time.com/4276737/indonesian-hobbit-liang-bua/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd0a72ab0b42f69bf/69888d12524fc0a48ddf760c/liangbua_2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3872 og:image:height: 2178 og:image:alt: LiangBua_2 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Indonesian 'Hobbits' Died Out Longer Ago Than Originally Thought, Study Finds twitter:description: New findings raise questions about their disappearance twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd0a72ab0b42f69bf/69888d12524fc0a48ddf760c/liangbua_2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Indonesian 'Hobbits' Died Out Longer Ago Than Originally Thought, Study Finds > Sponsored content. 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It reaches 40,000 subscribers with a 34.2% open rate and a 2.1% click rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I follow the energy transition as a business story? Future Proof covers climate and energy as an economic and business story rather than only an environmental one. It publishes every Friday and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes Future Proof? Justin Worland, a senior correspondent at TIME and an award-winning climate journalist, writes Future Proof. #### Is Future Proof free? Yes. Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Mar 30, 2016 7:13 PM UTC  Liang Bua, a limestone cave on the Indonesian island of Flores. The Liang Bua team prepares for new archaeological excavations. Eight years of further excavations and study at the Indonesian cave site of Liang Bua have pushed back the time of disappearance of the ‘hobbits’ of Flores (Homo floresiensis) from as recently as 12,000 years ago to about 50,000 years ago. Liang Bua, a limestone cave on the Indonesian island of Flores. The Liang Bua team prepares for new archaeological excavations. Eight years of further excavations and study at the Indonesian cave site of Liang Bua have pushed back the time of disappearance of the ‘hobbits’ of Flores (Homo floresiensis) from as recently as 12,000 years ago to about 50,000 years ago. Liang Bua Team by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Mar 30, 2016 7:13 PM UTC The “hobbits” that once inhabited Indonesia [died out thousands of years earlier than originally thought](http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature17179.html), a new study found. Researchers previously believed the remains of _Homo floresiensis_—which scientists dubbed “hobbits” because they grew to just a little more than 3 feet tall and had small brains—dated to as recently as 12,000 years ago, but new findings caused them to push the date much further back, according to report in the journal _Nature_. Following the initial discovery of the remains in 2003 in a cave called Liang Bua, further excavations from 2007 to 2014 revealed that the remains mostly dated between 60,000 and 100,000 years ago. Modern humans were beginning to explore the islands of Southeast Asia at the time, but it is unclear if the two species crossed paths on Flores, the island where the remains were found. The finding raises new questions about why _Homo floresiensis_ disappeared about 50,000 years ago, around the same time as other species, including vultures and an extinct relative of elephants, also vanished from the area, the researchers said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4276737/indonesian-hobbit-liang-bua/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4276737/indonesian-hobbit-liang-bua/"},"headline":"Indonesian 'Hobbits' Died Out Longer Ago Than Originally Thought, Study Finds","datePublished":"2016-03-30T19:13:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T16:20:04.859Z","description":"New findings raise questions about their disappearance","url":"https://time.com/4276737/indonesian-hobbit-liang-bua/","keywords":["Archaeology","indonesia","Paleontology"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd0a72ab0b42f69bf/69888d12524fc0a48ddf760c/liangbua_2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel White","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-white/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd0a72ab0b42f69bf/69888d12524fc0a48ddf760c/liangbua_2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"LiangBua_2","caption":"Liang Bua, a limestone cave on the Indonesian island of Flores. 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