Researchers say they have found "Hobbit" tools on an Indonesian island near where the remains of nine ancient individuals were found.

The researchers have excavated more than 500 stone tools within several miles of the remains of Homo floresiensis, believed to have inhabited the site from an estimated 95,000 to 12,000 years ago, the BBC reported Friday.

"At Mata Menge there are hundreds and hundreds of in situ stone artifacts with Stegodon fossils," Mike Morwood, of the University of New England, director of the excavations, told the BBC News.

Last year, the announcement that a partial skeleton about three feet tall -- dubbed the Hobbit -- caused a sensation when it was discovered and scientists said it was a human species new to science.

Copyright 2005 by United Press International