Press Releases 2005

CONTACT: Cathy Summa, Director, Marketing & Communications
(831) 479-6158
casumma [at] cabrillo.edu

January 12, 2005

Cabrillo College Anthropologist Digs Into Recent Discoveries

APTOS, CA - The recent discovery of micropygmy-sized human remains on the Indonesian island of Flores has attracted worldwide attention. Cabrillo College anthropology instructor and leading expert on Asian paleoanthropology Dr. Dennis Etler will discuss this discovery on Thursday, January 20, at 7 p.m., at the Sesnon House on the Cabrillo College campus, 6500 Soquel Drive, in Aptos.

Among the remains discovered in Flores were those of an adult no larger than a modern-day three-year-old human, with a chimpanzee-sized brain. Stories of the hobbit-sized people of Flores have circulated among the island’s population for centuries. Dr. Etler will address the questions brought up by this recent discovery, including the identity of these little people, and if they were descendants of ancient human ancestors, such as homo erectus, who once flourished in that region of the world. Contributions to support the relief efforts for victims of the South Asia tsunami will be welcomed at the lecture. For more information, please call (831) 479-6294.