Describe about Homo Erectus found in Indonesia

Java Man ( Indonesia)

Java Man is an early human fossil discovered on the island of Java( Indonesia)
in 1891 and 1892. It was started by Eugene Dubois and the excavation uncovered a tooth, a
skullcap and thighbone at Trinil on the banks of the Solo River in East Java. The fossils
represented the missing link between apes and humans, Dubois gave a scientific name called
Pithecanthropus erectus.

Java Man was about 5 feet 8 inches tall and his thighbones show that he
walked erect like modern humans. The femur is thicker than that of a modern human,
indicating he was engaging in a lot of running. The skull was characterized by thick bones
and retreating forehead and no chin as well as protruding browridges and a massive jaw. By
noticing these physical features, archaeologist aspect that meat was an important diet.

After Dubois other Homo Erectus bones were unearthed in Java. In the 1930s,
Ralph von Koenigswald found fossils, dated at be 1 million years old, near the village of
Sangiran, along the Solo River. Other fossils have been found along the Sungai Bengawan
Solo in Central and East Java and near Pacitan in East Java's south coast. In 1936 a skull of a
child was found at Perning neat Mojokerto.

According to theories, such as Out of Africa Theory and Multi-regional theory,

there are evidences for out of Africa theory, including hand axes that appeared to have been
originated in Africa. In contrast to Peking Man, the evidence of fire using was not found in
Java. Homo Erectus fossils found at the site called Ngandong in Indonesia, thought to be
between 100,000 and 300,000 years old. This implies that Homo Erectus live longer than
anyone thought and homo erectus and Homo Sapiens existed at the same time on Java.

The multiregional position on human evolution holds that hominids such as Java in
Indonesia and Peking Man in China are the most direct ancestors of Modern East Asian.
Nevertheless, Homo Erectus study is an important study for the missing link between human
and ape.