Debbie Argue

Homo floresiensis: a cladistic analysis

The announcement of a new species, Homo floresiensis, a primitive hominin that survived until relatively recent times is an enormous challenge to paradigms of human evolution. Until this announcement, the dominant paradigm stipulated that: 1) only more derived hominins had emerged from Africa, and 2) H. sapiens was the only hominin since the demise of Homo erectus and Homo neanderthalensis. Resistance to H. floresiensis has been intense, and debate centers on two sets of competing hypotheses: 1) that it is a primitive hominin, and 2) that it is a modern human, either a pygmoid form or a pathological individual. Despite a range of analytical techniques having been applied to the question, no resolution has been reached. Here, we use cladistic analysis, a tool that has not, until now, been applied to the problem, to establish the phylogenetic position of the species. Our results produce two equally parsimonious phylogenetic trees. The first suggests that H. floresiensis is an early hominin that emerged after Homo rudolfensis (1.86Ma) but before H. habilis (1.66Ma, or after 1.9Ma if the earlier chronology for H. habilis is retained). The second tree indicates H. floresiensis branched after Homo habilis.

Discovery of a Possible Digging Stick in the Southeast Region of Australia

In March 1995, the discovery of a digging stick was reported to the Heritage Section of the ACT Department of Environment Land and Planning. Apart from the notable finds preserved in the Wyrie Swamp ( Luebbers 1978:130-l), wooden artefacts are rarely found in situ in southeastern Australia. The site discussed in this report is therefore significant under Schedule 2(v) of the ACT Land (Planning and Environment) Act 1991 as a place which is the only known example of its kind in the ACT.

Homo floresiensis: further insights

A tiny skeleton was revealed to an unsuspecting world in October 2004. The bones of this skeleton be…

Aboriginal occupation of the Southern Highlands:. Was it really seasonal?

This paper examines the nature of Aboriginal occupation of the Southern Highlands, a region above 900 m altitude in southeastern Australia, using archaeological and biotic resource data to obtain some indication of seasonality of occupation.