My Little Mate

AstralTraveller (David) · #1 17-05-2012, 03:22 PM

Anyone want to hazard a guess as to the identity of my little mate? (Not our curator Penny - the skinny one in the case.)

Shark Bait (Stu) · #2 17-05-2012, 03:36 PM

Is it the "Hobbit" (Homo floresiensis)?

jjjnettie (Jeanette) · #3 17-05-2012, 06:00 PM

Yes, I agree.
If only because of the picture of the cave in the back ground.
How exciting!!

AstralTraveller (David) · #4 17-05-2012, 07:59 PM

Yes, it's the Hobbit. The bones, which are staying in Indonesia (presumably in a temperature and humidity controlled room), were scanned so that reproductions could be made and every man and his dog could have a bone.

A few years ago I held a clear plastic skull in my hand, which allows you to see the inner structure of the skull (not that it means much to me). This display shows all the bones from the first skeleton in position. It was made for us by The Australia Museum and it is down here for a week so the rest of the display can be designed. After that it will be on display at the museum until early next year then it will return here to go on permanent display. The picture was taken from the back of Liang Bua cave. The pit was to the right of the photo. You can see the excavated material in heaps waiting to be sieved and on the far left is the sieved material waiting to go back in the pit.

Exciting? Yes indeed. Stunning even. I still remember the day I heard about the discovery, about a year before it was published. I more floated home than walked. Unfortunately we had been sworn to secrecy and so I had to keep it to myself when I felt like telling the world.

BTW there are lots of nice displays in that foyer and more on the way (our curator is a woman possessed). If anyone has some tips about photographing through glass I'd love to hear them.

traveller (Bo) · #5 17-05-2012, 08:34 PM

Thanks for sharing these photos David.
The third photo is very interesting. There are two large puncture holes on top of the skull along with some large fractures,indicating they could have been made by a set of large canine teeth or some trauma wound. Wonder if that how our little guy met his fate?
There is also a nice hole in the idle of his right upper arm, but there is no associated fracture. So one wonders what caused that.
Were there any other holes or markings on the skeleton?
Bo

AstralTraveller (David) · #6 17-05-2012, 08:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by traveller

...
Were there any other holes or markings on the skeleton?
Bo

I'll have a closer look tomorrow.

mental4astro (Alexander) · #7 17-05-2012, 08:54 PM

I have a tip on photographing through glass : don't take the photo square on to the glass itself, you will get a nasty reflection back particularly if your flash goes off. If you take the photo at an angle to the glass, the reflection of the flash will bounce off away from your camera. Try also to turn the flash off too, though it can get tricky to hold the camera still for long enough in low light.

Congratulations on the exhibit! Really is an exciting occassion,

Mental.

mental4astro (Alexander) · #8 17-05-2012, 09:01 PM

Second tip, if you are looking to set up the exhibit to make it camera friendly, try to keep the surrounding area outside of the exhibit dark. This will reduce the incidence of reflections from the surroundings becoming an issue when taking photos.

I happened to have noticed the reflections on the glass from those images you uploaded. That is what provoked this last suggestion.

If you dim the surroundings to this fellows exhibit, you will not only make photography easier, but you will also make the skeleton more the centre of attention, and even give some atmosphere to the exhibit as the dim surrounds will seem to mimic the dark surroundings where the skeleton was found.

AstralTraveller (David) · #9 18-05-2012, 03:56 PM

Bo,

I took some more shots today. The damage on the arm is quite interesting in that there does appear to be some evidence (to my completely non-expert eye) it occurred during life. I'm less convinced about the damage to the skull. There looks to be plenty of 'erosion' of the skull after death. So it might just be that the 'erosion' has occurred near the suture lines in the skull, them being weak points. Even with the arm though, remember that when uncovered they had the consistency of 'wet blotting paper'. So distortion of the shape after death can't be discounted.

I've got Mike Morwood's book at home and it might be explained there. I'll look through it when I get a chance.

traveller (Bo) · #10 18-05-2012, 09:36 PM

Thanks David.
The holes on top of the skull are worth look into. While the lines at 12 o'clock and 8 and 4 o'clock positions are part of the normal suture lines, but the line at 10 and 2 o'clock positions are not and could well be fractures from the holes with subsequent erosion.
There appears to be a greenstick type of fracture on the arm (where the bones fracture but do not snap like bending of a green stick). This is indicated by the small groove next to the hole. I am still puzzled by the hole, and struggle to find a possible cause of it.
Judging by the teeth, it look like a young person, adolescent age.
I am sure a lot of people have looked and poked and examined the skeleton, and I would be interested to see if anyone looked at it from a forensic point of view.
Cheers, Bo