These early ancestors, or hominins, were previously thought to have arrived on the island about 800,000 years ago but artifacts found in a new archaeological site suggest they might have been around even earlier.
In a paper published in Nature, researchers said their findings suggest these hominins may have evolved into tiny hobbit-like humans, or "Flores man," who stood about a meter tall and had skulls the size of grapefruit.
Skeletal remains of an 18,000-year-old "Flores man" were discovered about five years ago and scientists then determined it belonged to a species of human completely new to science.