[shuckmaster]

The earliest dates I've heard given for the earliest agriculture came about or soon after the dates given for the last of the hobbits (95kya to 12 kya). Also, the earliest dates known for the first modern humans coming out of Africa (80kya) is 15,000 years after the dates now given for the earliest of the hobbit culture. Based on the given dates and prior info about brain size, the hobbits were probably an offshoot of the Erectus who were on the nearby mainland prior to the early date but were gone by the later date. The date 12,000 ya is still extremely significant because we're looking at a non modern (unrelated) human much later than the last of the Neanderthals.
The next piece of the puzzle to look for is whether or not the hobbits remained the same size during the 95kya to 12 kya period. I'd also like to know more about how they concluded the 95kya date.

[dsc]

Thanks for the info.

My remark about agriculture was in response to remarks about the Picts and Celts in note 5.