I have to say I agree with Gregory Cochran’s scepticism of this. Homo Floresiensis had basically Chimp-sized brains. One would need stronger than usual evidence that they did in fact use them, before we can take that as a given. Has it for example been ruled out that the tools found where brought to the cave by say other humans hunting and eating them?
Floresiensis had a total brain volume in the chimp/australopithecus range, yes, but the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (associated with higher cognition in humans) is about the same size as it is in anatomically-modern homo sapiens. Their habitation sites show all the usual hominin features: fire, bones with cut marks, stone tools of comparable sophistication to contemporary h. sapiens with four times the brain volume—and the prey species associated with the sites, stegodontids, would necessitate cooperative hunts.
I have to say I agree with Gregory Cochran’s scepticism of this. Homo Floresiensis had basically Chimp-sized brains. One would need stronger than usual evidence that they did in fact use them, before we can take that as a given. Has it for example been ruled out that the tools found where brought to the cave by say other humans hunting and eating them?
Floresiensis had a total brain volume in the chimp/australopithecus range, yes, but the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (associated with higher cognition in humans) is about the same size as it is in anatomically-modern homo sapiens. Their habitation sites show all the usual hominin features: fire, bones with cut marks, stone tools of comparable sophistication to contemporary h. sapiens with four times the brain volume—and the prey species associated with the sites, stegodontids, would necessitate cooperative hunts.