Join the Canberra Archaeological Society for our National Archaeology Week Public Lecture with Dr Debbi Argue.

The lecture will be followed by drinks and nibbles with a chance to socialise with archaeologists, researchers and fellow enthusiasts.

Doors open at 6:00pm for the lecture to start at 6:30pm, followed by drinks and nibbles in the foyer at 7:30pm.

Island Southeast Asia: a new frontier in human evolution

Back in 2004 a torrent of publicity greeted the news of a new species of hominin that was discovered during archaeological excavations on the island of Flores, Indonesia. What was so surprising about this species, Homo floresiensis, is its 1-metre stature, tiny brain, and that it looks more like what we’d have expected in Africa around 2 million years ago. Yet it lived just 95,000 years ago, half a world away from that continent.

This was also the first time that hominin remains had been found on an island. We had assumed it was just we modern humans who had the capability, and desire, even, to do this.

Then, on yet another island, Luzon in the Philippines, another diminutive, archaic species of hominin was found in archaeological excavations. It is assigned to a new species, Homo luzonensis and dated to 134,000 years ago.

And, in the Soa Basin, Flores, where we had known of ancient stone tools, the remains of an even smaller hominin were discovered in 2014. These are dated to around 350,000 years ago.

These discoveries are truly remarkable occurrences. They challenge the status quo and present us with a new frontier in human evolutionary studies.

Who exactly were these little hominins? Where did they come from? How did they get to these islands?

Dr Debbie Argue

Debbie is an Honorary Lecturer in the School of Archaeology and Anthropology at the Australian National University. Her research focus is human evolution and in particular, Homo floresiensis, about which she has written a book.

Her post-graduate studies focused on human evolution during the Middle and Early Pleistocene for which she studied fossil hominin bones held in museums in Africa, Europe and Indonesia. Debbie has a BA Honours degree in Archaeology, in which she focused on the prehistory of the Australian Alps for her dissertation. She has worked as a consultant archaeologist, and as Heritage Officer in local government.

Debbie is engaged in a number of national and international collaborative projects on human evolution; and has a continuing role as Advisor to PhD candidates in the School of Archaeology and Anthropology.