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.

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Java Man Media

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  1922 reconstruction of a Java Man skull, due to Trinil 2 being only a cranium, Dubois who believed Java man was transitional between apes and humans, drew the reconstruction with an ape-like jaw but a brain larger than apes'

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  The gibbon's ability to stand and walk upright made Eugène Dubois believe it was closely related to humans. This is one of the reasons why he once claimed that Java Man looked like a "giant gibbon".

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  The locality of the Pithecanthropus find, on the Solo River, near Trinil, Java. The two white squares show where the femur (left) and the skullcap (right) were discovered. Their discovery near flowing water was one of the many sources of controversy that surrounded the fossils.

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  Pseudodon shell DUB1006-fL, found near Java Man and dated to circa 500,000 BP, contains the earliest known geometric engravings. From Trinil, Java. Now in the Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Netherlands.

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  A 1922 reconstruction of the skull of Java Man (based on Trinil 2).