Back in 2003, the scientific community was shocked by the discovery of the hobbits (technically called Homo floresiensis, but that's a boring name). No, not the species from the popular series of films coming out around that time; but the species of tiny human from the island of Flores, Indonesia. They were much too small and much too archaic for a species that lived so recently (within the last 12,000 years).
Then, for the next decade, nothing new really came out. Except for some silly people claiming, they were diseased modern humans, but that's just wrong. Until 2016 nothing new really came out; until a new set of fossils from Flores revealed where the hobbits came from. It turns out they evolved at least 700,000 years ago, likely from Homo erectus, and maybe not even on the island of Flores.
Shortly afterwards even more discoveries came from the island of Flores. Evidence of fire indicated modern humans may have arrived on the island earlier than thought. Could this explain why the hobbits went extinct? Some news sites seem to think so. However, they're wrong.
Fire on Flores
Someone started a fire on the island of Flores. Interestingly, they did it a Ling Bua; where the hobbits were originally found. Even more interestingly, the fire seems to have been made shortly after the hobbits vanished from the site. But perhaps most interestingly is the fact this is the first fire on the island. Homo floresiensis just didn't burn stuff. This was clearly something new.
This evidence of fire comes from a different layer to the hobbits. These strata were something we didn't know much about previously; helping us plug up a gap in our knowledge. Specifically, fill that hole in with the arrival of modern humans.
Yet it isn't exactly implausible that Homo floresiensis could make fire. Other recent discoveries from the island reveal they're likely descended from Homo erectus, who did make fire. The earliest definitive evidence of fire comes from Wonderwerk Cave, dated to 990,000 years ago, although there might be earlier cases from elsewhere in Africa; potentially as early as 1.6 million years ago. Whichever date you pick, it's clear Homo erectus was making fire before Homo floresiensis likely evolved from them. So they may have inherited that ability. Except they don't seem to have. We have fairly complete data from Ling Bua, and this seems to be the first fire from that location. For hundreds of thousands of years the hobbits lived in the cave but didn't make fire. Something changed.
We can also conclude that this fire wasn't accidental. Although there were volcanoes in the region - and they do tend to be a bit burny - the fire at Ling Bua covered a large area. Or rather, a deep area. The fire didn't cover a particularly wide space but kept cropping up in the same place over a long period of time. Crucial evidence of repeated burnings in a "hearth".
Some big change had occurred. This was likely the arrival of modern humans on the island, bringing with them the ability to control fire. Certainly, these burnings do fit within the arrival of modern humans in the region, although no direct evidence of their occupation has been found in the burnt Strata of Ling Bua.
Hobbits on fire
So, we have modern humans likely arriving on Flores some time between 41 - 38 thousand years ago. Might this explain the ultimate extinction of the hobbits? The researchers behind this discovery don't seem to think so, and it's easy to see why.
The original dates for the hobbits placed them at around 12,000 years ago. Based on this there would be extensive overlap between humans and hobbits, making the role of the former in the extinction of the latter plausible. However, this initial date seems to be wrong. Re-dating these initial finds from Ling Bua placed them at closer to 60,000 years ago. Tools associated with them were a bit more recent, suggesting they may have survived until 50,000 years ago, but this still leaves an almost 10,000-year gap between hobbits and humans.
Still, doesn't that seem suspiciously close? Perhaps, but it's also suspiciously close to many other key events. This period was also the time of fairly significant climate change. The environment was becoming much drier around 50 - 40,000 years ago. It is thought the species' small size was an adaptation to reduced food found on the island. Might further changes in the environment have tipped them over the edge?
Or, perhaps more excitingly, might they have been killed off by a volcano. There's one less than 15km from Ling Bua, and it seems to have gone off around 50,000 yeas ago; when the hobbits went extinct. Not much information on this eruption is available, but it produced a layer of ash nearly one metre thick. Clearly, it was pretty significant.
Now, I'm not advocating for any one of these explanations. My point is simply there was an awful lot going on around 50,000 years ago on Flores. To focus on the arrival of modern humans is to ignore several other major changes. More work is needed before we can place the blame at the feet of one of these. Or maybe it was some combination of them all. The arrival of humans, lack of food, and fiery lava proved too much for the hobbits.
Which is a shame, because volcanoes and hobbits normally go together quite well. Unless you're Sauron.
Summary
Fire indicates humans arrived on Flores around the time the hobbits went extinct. Does that mean we're to blame for their disappearance? Probably not
References
Morley, M.W., Goldberg, P., Sutikna, T., Tocheri, M.W., Prinsloo, L.C., Saptomo, E.W., Wasisto, S. and Roberts, R.G., 2016. Initial micromorphological results from Liang Bua, Flores (Indonesia): Site formation processes and hominin activities at the type locality of Homo floresiensis. Journal of Archaeological Science.
Sutikna, T., Tocheri, M.W., Morwood, M.J., Saptomo, E.W., Awe, R.D., Wasisto, S., Westaway, K.E., Aubert, M., Li, B., Zhao, J.X. and Storey, M., 2016. Revised stratigraphy and chronology for Homo floresiensis at Liang Bua in Indonesia. Nature.
Westaway, K.E., Roberts, R.G., Sutikna, T., Morwood, M.J., Drysdale, R., Zhao, J.X. and Chivas, A.R., 2009. The evolving landscape and climate of western Flores: an environmental context for the archaeological site of Liang Bua. Journal of Human Evolution, 57(5), pp.450-464.
