In 2003, archaeologists discovered human-like skeletal remains inside a cave in Indonesia. Upon closer inspection, they determined that the individual — most likely female — had an abnormally small head and was of short stature, standing only 3 feet, 6 inches (106 centimeters). Due to the individual's hobbit-like characteristics, which differed from those of known hominins, researchers classified the individual as Homo floresiensis, a smaller offshoot of Homo erectus, an extinct human ancestor.
Now, a new facial approximation offers a glimpse of what this individual, nicknamed "the hobbit," may have looked like when it lived on the Indonesian island of Flores approximately 18,000 years ago.
