Specimen List

homo erectus

Dmanisi 211

  • Common Name:

    Dmanisi Mandible

  • Geologic Age:

    1.81 Ma

  • Discovery Date:

    September 1991

  • Discovered By:

    Antje Justus

  • Discovery Location:

    Dmanisi, Republic of Georgia

  • Specimen Age:

    Adult

  • Sex:

    Undetermined

Coming soon.


Trinil 3

  • Geologic Age:

    700 Ka - 1 Ma

  • Discovery Date:

    Aug 1892

  • Discovered By:

    Unknown but attributed to Eugene Dubois

  • Discovery Location:

    Trinil, Java

  • Specimen Age:

    Adult

  • Sex:

    Undetermined

Coming soon.


Peking Man

  • Common Name:

    Peking Man

  • Geologic Age:

    800 Ka - 400 Ka

  • Discovery Date:

    1921-1966

  • Discovered By:

    O. Zdansky 1921; B. Bohlin 1928-1929; W. Pei 1930-1937; Institute of Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Beijing 1959 and 1966

  • Discovery Location:

    Zhoukoudian, China

  • Cranial Capacity:

    1030 cc

  • Specimen Age:

    Adult

  • Sex:

    Male

Forty Homo erectus individuals were found within a cave, known as Locality 1, at Zhoukoudian (nee Dragon Bone Hill), about 42 km southwest of Beijing, China. Excavations began at Locality 1 in the early 1920s, with the first skullcap found in 1929. With China on the brink of war in December 1941, the fossils were sent to the United States for safekeeping. Unfortunately, all the original fossils, except for 2 teeth, disappeared during shipment. Luckily, extraordinary casts and descriptions of the fossils made prior to shipment survived, and are still used today to study the expansive H. erectus remains from Locality 1.


Sangiran 17

  • Geologic Age:

    800 Ka

  • Discovery Date:

    13 Sep 1969

  • Discovered By:

    Mr. Towikromo

  • Discovery Location:

    Sangiran, Java, Indonesia

  • Cranial Capacity:

    1029 cc

  • Specimen Age:

    Adult

  • Sex:

    Male

  • Original Publication:

    Sartono S. 1972. Discovery of Another Hominid Skull at Sangiran, Central Java. Current Anthropology 13(1):124-126

Coming Soon.


Trinil 2

  • Common Name:

    Java Man

  • Geologic Age:

    1 Ma - 700 Ka

  • Discovery Date:

    Oct 1891

  • Discovered By:

    Eugene Dubois

  • Discovery Location:

    Solo river, near Ngawi, Java, Indonesia

  • Specimen Age:

    Adult

  • Sex:

    Undetermined

Before Trinil 2 was discovered, most scientists believed hominins originated in Europe. But in 1891, the partial cranium of Trinil 2 was discovered near the Solo River (near Ngawi, java, Indonesia), and predated any known European fossil at about 1 Ma to 700 Ka. Dubbed "Java Man", Trinil 2 was originally assigned the taxonomic name of Pithecanthropus erectus by Eugene Dubois who was searching for "the missing link" between apes and humans. The specimen was later reassigned to Homo erectus, and designated as the holotype for this species1.