Homo floresiensis: Microcephalic, pygmoid, Australopithecus, or Homo?

Microcephaly in ancient Greece—The Minoan Microcephalus of Zakros

“…The disorder may stem from a wide variety of conditions that cause abnormal growth of the brain or from syndromes associated with chromosomal abnormalities. The eterogenity of the condition poses problems for clinical evaluation as well as biological, genetic and antropological analyses [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8].…”

“…1 and 2) of a microcephalic skull that was found on Zakros, one of the major Minoan (Knossos, Faistos, Zakros and Malia) archaeological sites of Minoan Crete (Figs. 3 and 4) [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8].…”

“…It was buried in a very small chest-shaped coffin, which suggests a short stature for the individual. The width of the skull is narrow in comparison with the length, the frontal bone retreats, and there is alveolar prognathism and a well-developed mental prominence ago [1][2][3][4][5][6].…”

“…H. floresiensis has been attributed to a species of its own, a descendant of Homo erectus or another early hominid, a pathological form of Homo sapiens, or a dwarfed H. sapiens [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8].…”

“…Thus neither Cretans, nor members of the Minoan dynasty were immigrants from elsewhere, but a result of local evolution [1][2][3][4][5][6]. …”