Overview
- Published in Communications Earth & Environment, the study delivers the first precisely dated rainfall record for Flores spanning 91,000 to 47,000 years ago.
- Stalagmite Mg/Ca and d18O data show mean annual rainfall fell between about 76,000 and 61,000 years ago, with exceptionally dry summers from roughly 61,000 to 55,000 years ago.
- Oxygen isotope signals in Stegodon tooth enamel track the stalagmite trend, placing the pygmy elephants’ disappearance from Liang Bua at around 57,000 years ago.
- Archaeological layers with Homo floresiensis end near 50,000 years ago, just below a prominent volcanic ash deposit, with the earliest Homo sapiens material at the site lying above the ash.
- Researchers argue freshwater and food shortages likely drove a gradual retreat from the cave, while noting unresolved roles for volcanism and possible contact with modern humans and leaving open the possibility of survival beyond Liang Bua.