Hunt History

There is evidence—though somewhat ambiguous—of interaction between Stegodon florensis and early human populations on Flores, notably Homo floresiensis.

At the Liang Bua site (Flores), Stegodon bones are found associated with stone tools that are attributed to Homo floresiensis.

Some of these Stegodon bones show cut marks, which suggests butchery by humans.

However, the frequency of cut marks is low, and the association is sometimes circumstantial, making it difficult to conclusively determine the extent to which H. floresiensis hunted Stegodon versus scavenging carcasses.

In the So’a Basin (Flores), fossil sites containing Stegodon florensis also contain stone artefacts in close proximity, but no definite butchery sites have yet been firmly documented there.