A Quick Review Of NOVA’s “Alien From Earth”
LB1 (Homo floresiensis)
I watched that NOVA special on Homo floresiensis last night. It was extremely well done. The producers covered a lot of angles, interviewed many key players, presented the information in a clear manner and kept it entertaining. I wish more anthropology related documentaries would use this show as a template.
In lieu of resonating more noise in the echo chamber, I’ll pass you onto John Hawks‘ minute by minute review of the show. But I do want to say the show really effectively addressed some of the critics of the Flores hobbit, including me, by reminding us that evolution is not linear. And even though we’ve seen a linear pattern in previous hominid brain size growth patterns and associated archaeological complexity, it is possible a smaller brained hominid also evolved simultaneously. If I were teaching a paleoanthropology class, I would show this documentary for sure.
For those of you who couldn’t watch it, it is online now in both Quicktime and Windows Media formats. Watch it.
