The island of Java was one of the big islands that were located in the Indonesian archipelago. The javanese inhabitants lived in the middle and eastern part of the island. The discovery of Pithecanthropus fossils by Eugene Dubois at the end of 19-th century was an epochmaking event in the history of the search for evidence of human evolution. Despite its importance, the find was for a long time the subject of controversies as to the genealogical position of specimens, for they were composed of a skull-cap having mixed characteristics of man and ape, and a femur possessing features comparable to those of modern man.
The most discussed of all human fossils was discovered in 1891 by E. Dubois, a Dutch army surgeon stationed on the island of Java. He had opened a quarry for vertebrate fossils in a 3-feet bed of gravel exposed in the bank of the Solo River, and there he came upon several human bones - a skull cap, a left thigh bone, fragment of nasal bones, and three teeth. Although each bone was isolated, and the thigh bone was found almost 50 feet from the skull, Dubois assumed that they belonged to one species if not to one individual, and recent application of the fluorine test confirms his inference that they are at least of the same age.
Discovered by Eugene Dubois in 1891 near Trinil in Java. Its age is uncertain, but thought to be about 700,000 years. This find consisted of a flat, very thick skullcap, a few teeth, and a thigh bone found about 12 meters away (Theunissen, 1989). The brain size is about 940 cc. Trinkaus and Shipman (1992) state that most scientists now believe the femur is that of a modern human, but few of the other references mention this.
The skull cap was remarkably thick, the brow ridges very massive, and the forehead low and receding. The brain of this skull, estimated to have had a volume of 900 cubic centimeters, is intermediate in size between that of the largest apes (about 600 cubic centimeters) and the average for the lowest type of living men (about 1240 cubic centimeters). Moreover, the scars of attachment for the great neck muscles at the base of the skull clearly imply that the head was carried forward, as in the apes, instead of being well balanced on the neck, as in modern man.
Soon after discovery, this find was hailed as a "missing link" between the apes and man and was given the name Pithecanthropus erectus [Gr. pithecos, an ape + anthropos, a man]. Almost at once it became a subject of controversy. Skeptics argued that it was an abnormal individual, perhaps an idiot; but statisticians pointed out the extreme improbability of an abnormal individual being the sole survivor of a population to be preserved and discovered. All uncertainty was cleared up by the extensive and careful restudy of the area by Koenigswald between the years 1935 and 1940, which brought to light three additional skulls. The last nad most importance of these includes the upper jaw, part of the lower jaw, and several teeth, along with the posterior and basal part of the braincase. It is somewhat larger and more massive than the original skull and is believed to be that of a male, whereas the original was female. These skulls, fully confirm the interpretation previously made of the brain size and the shape of the head and face of Pithecanthropus, and prove beyond possible doubt that this is a well-defined but primitive human type.
The small brain, low forehead, heavy brow ridges, protruding mouth, and receding chin give the skull a striking resemblance to that of a great ape, yet the brain is far larger than that of any great ape, the toothline is even, the canine teeth are relatively small and the dentition is in all respect human rather than simian; moreover, the straight thigh bone proves that he walked upright. Volcanics associated with the fossils indicate an age of about 500.000 years. There is no longer any doubt that Pithecanthropus was human and he is now placed in the genus Homo.
Six faunal zones are now known in the Pleistocene deposits of Java, and all the remains of Pithecanthropus are from a single one of these, the so called Trinil horizon. Other human remains of more modern type are found in some of the higher zones.
The most discussed of all human fossils was discovered in 1891 by E. Dubois, a Dutch army surgeon stationed on the island of Java. He had opened a quarry for vertebrate fossils in a 3-feet bed of gravel exposed in the bank of the Solo River, and there he came upon several human bones - a skull cap, a left thigh bone, fragment of nasal bones, and three teeth. Although each bone was isolated, and the thigh bone was found almost 50 feet from the skull, Dubois assumed that they belonged to one species if not to one individual, and recent application of the fluorine test confirms his inference that they are at least of the same age.
The skull cap was remarkably thick, the brow ridges very massive, and the forehead low and receding. The brain of this skull, estimated to have had a volume of 900 cubic centimeters, is intermediate in size between that of the largest apes (about 600 cubic centimeters) and the average for the lowest type of living men (about 1240 cubic centimeters). Moreover, the scars of attachment for the great neck muscles at the base of the skull clearly imply that the head was carried forward, as in the apes, instead of being well balanced on the neck, as in modern man.
Soon after discovery, this find was hailed as a "missing link" between the apes and man and was given the name Pithecanthropus erectus [Gr. pithecos, an ape + anthropos, a man]. Almost at once it became a subject of controversy. Skeptics argued that it was an abnormal individual, perhaps an idiot; but statisticians pointed out the extreme improbability of an abnormal individual being the sole survivor of a population to be preserved and discovered. All uncertainty was cleared up by the extensive and careful restudy of the area by Koenigswald between the years 1935 and 1940, which brought to light three additional skulls. The last nad most importance of these includes the upper jaw, part of the lower jaw, and several teeth, along with the posterior and basal part of the braincase. It is somewhat larger and more massive than the original skull and is believed to be that of a male, whereas the original was female. These skulls, fully confirm the interpretation previously made of the brain size and the shape of the head and face of Pithecanthropus, and prove beyond possible doubt that this is a well-defined but primitive human type.
Sangiran 2, "Pithecanthropus II", Homo erectus
A very similar but more complete braincase was found at Sangiran in Java in 1937 by G.H.R. von Koenigswald. It is even smaller, with a brain size of only 815 cc.
The small brain, low forehead, heavy brow ridges, protruding mouth, and receding chin give the skull a striking resemblance to that of a great ape, yet the brain is far larger than that of any great ape, the toothline is even, the canine teeth are relatively small and the dentition is in all respect human rather than simian; moreover, the straight thigh bone proves that he walked upright. Volcanics associated with the fossils indicate an age of about 500.000 years. There is no longer any doubt that Pithecanthropus was human and he is now placed in the genus Homo.
Six faunal zones are now known in the Pleistocene deposits of Java, and all the remains of Pithecanthropus are from a single one of these, the so called Trinil horizon. Other human remains of more modern type are found in some of the higher zones.
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