Java Man

Java man is one of the first known specimens of Homo erectus. The name was given to fossils discovered in 1891 at Trinil on the banks of the Bengawan Solo River in East Java, Indonesia. Its discoverer, Eugène Dubois, gave it the scientific name Pithecanthropus erectus. The name derives from Greek and Latin roots meaning "upright ape-man".

Estimated to be between 700,000 and 1,000,000 years old, it was, at the time of its discovery, the oldest hominid fossils ever found. It still is the type specimen for Homo erectus.

Led by Eugène Dubois, the excavation team uncovered a tooth, a skullcap, and a thighbone at Trinil.