Homo Erectus

Homo erectus, extinct primate classified in the subfamily Homininae and the genus Homo, both of which include humans. Scientists learn about extinct species, such as Homo erectus, by studying fossils—petrified bones buried in sedimentary rock. Based on their analysis of these fossils, scientists believe that Homo erectus lived from about 1.8 million years ago to as recently as 30,000 years ago.
The anatomical features of Homo erectus are more humanlike than those of earlier human precursors, such as australopithecines and Homo habilis. Homo erectus had a larger brain, measuring up to 1150 cu cm (70 cu in), and a rounder cranium—the portion of the skull that covers the brain—than earlier humans. Homo erectus was also taller, with a flatter face and smaller teeth. Large differences in body size between males and females, characteristic of earlier human species, are less evident in Homo erectus specimens.

Until recently, Homo erectus was the name applied to both East Asian and African fossils meeting certain anatomical criteria. Today, many scientists assign the African specimens to a distinct species, Homo ergaster, which is considered the potential ancestor of Homo erectus.
Its larger brain and more modern body enabled Homo erectus to do many things its ancestors had never done. Homo erectus appears to have been descended from the first humans to venture beyond Africa. Those early humans were perhaps the first to be capable of systematic hunting, the first to make anything resembling home bases (campsites), and the first to use fire. Evidence suggests that the childhood of Homo erectus was longer than that of earlier humans, providing an extended period in which to learn complex skills. These skills are reflected in the relatively sophisticated stone tools associated in some areas with fossils of Homo erectus or its close relatives. Although still primitive compared to the tools made by early Homo sapiens, the tools made by some Homo erectus groups were much more complex than the simple, small pebble tools of earlier human species. The most characteristic of these tools was a teardrop-shaped hand ax, known to archaeologists as an Acheulean ax.
Scientific study of Homo erectus began in the late 19th century. Excited by Charles Darwin‘s theory of evolution and fossil discoveries in Europe, scientists began to search for the fossilized remains of “the missing link,” the evolutionary ancestor of both human beings and modern apes. In 1891 Dutch anthropologist Eugène Dubois traveled to Java, Indonesia, where he unearthed the top of a skull and a leg bone of an extinct human. Measurements of the skull indicated that the creature had possessed a large brain, measuring 850 cu cm (52 cu in), while the leg-bone anatomy suggested that it had walked upright. In recognition of these characteristics, Dubois named the species Pithecanthropus erectus, or “erect ape-man.”
Canadian anthropologist Davidson Black found similar fossils in China in the late 1920s. Black named his discovery Sinanthropus pekinensis, or “Peking Man.” Later studies by Dutch scientist G. H. von Koenigswald and German scientist Franz Weidenreich showed that the fossils discovered by Dubois and Black came from the same species, which was eventually named Homo erectus.
Since these earliest discoveries, fossils attributed to Homo erectus have been found in East Africa, South Africa, Ethiopia, and various parts of Asia. A specimen from Java suggests that Homo erectus may have lived in East Asia about 1.8 million years ago. As noted earlier, many authorities now prefer to restrict Homo erectus to the East Asian finds and to assign the African specimens to Homo ergaster. Kenyan fossil hunter Kamoya Kimeu discovered an almost complete Homo ergaster skeleton, known as the Turkana boy, near Lake Turkana in northern Kenya in 1984. The oldest known ergaster specimen, dated at around 1.8 million years old, also comes from northern Kenya.

Scientific assumptions about Homo erectus have changed dramatically since the early 1990s. Anthropologists long assumed that the species spread from Africa to parts of Asia and Europe and that these dispersed populations gradually evolved into Homo sapiens, or modern humans. Most anthropologists now think it more likely that Homo sapiens originated from a small population in Africa within the past 200,000 years. According to this theory, descendants of this African population of Homo sapiens spread throughout the Eastern Hemisphere, replacing populations of more ancient humans, perhaps with limited interbreeding.
Many anthropologists now believe that Homo ergaster appeared first in East Africa and quickly spread into Asia, where it evolved into Homo erectus. Homo sapiens arose in Africa from a population descended from Homo ergaster. Until recently, Homo erectus was thought to have died out about 300,000 years ago. Recent studies of Homo erectus populations in Java suggest that they may have lived until as recently as 53,000 to 27,000 years ago, long after the evolution of modern humans.
Anthropologists also debate whether Homo erectus used language. Some scientists argue that the brain size of Homo erectus, the shape of its vocal structures, and the complexity of its behavior indicate that it had a capacity for verbal communication far beyond the rudimentary vocalizations of apes. Other anthropologists reject this conclusion. They point out that the first evidence of symbolic expression, a trait closely linked with language, appears well under 100,000 years ago. These skeptics also point to the primitive quality of the tools often associated with Homo erectus. Some anatomical evidence also suggests that Homo erectus lacked language abilities. The spinal column of early Homo erectus (or ergaster) may have been significantly narrower than that of modern humans. This anatomical characteristic implies that these early humans had fewer nerves to control the subtle movements of the rib cage that are required for the production of spoken language. This question may remain unanswered, because, unlike stone tools, spoken words never become part of the archaeological record.

Homo erectus, an extinct human species, inhabited Indonesia as early as 1.8 million years ago. The oldest H. erectus specimens come from Mojokerto in central Java. Fossils excavated from Ngandong indicate that H. erectus may have lived on Java as recently as 53,000 to 27,000 years ago, possibly alongside early populations of modern humans (Homo sapiens). In 2004 the skeleton of an unusually small early human, estimated to be about 18,000 years old, was discovered on the island of Flores. Named Homo floresiensis, it stood only about 1 m (3.3 ft) tall and had a brain the size of a chimpanzee’s. Yet it was apparently intelligent enough to make simple stone tools. See Human Evolution.
Throughout history the peoples of Southeast Asia migrated extensively, giving the Indonesian archipelago a mix of more than 100 ethnicities and languages. Within this mix there has been a wide cultural gap between the coastal peoples, who probably developed irrigated wet-rice cultivation (sawah) about 2,000 years ago, and the inland peoples, who depended on shifting, slash-and-burn agriculture (ladang) until recently. The coastal regions probably developed sawah because irrigation was easier to develop near the coast and because the larger coastal populations made ladang difficult. Later, coastal peoples developed differently from inland peoples because the former were more exposed to outside influences. In time, three distinct types of Indonesian societies evolved. On the coast were the trade-oriented, deeply Islamic coastal peoples. Hindu-influenced, wet-rice cultivators developed further inland. Still further inland, typically in remote mountainous regions, were tribal groups who practiced shifting cultivation and indigenous religious beliefs.
Bronze was introduced to the archipelago in about 300 BC from northern Vietnam, Thailand, or China, and from that time on metalworking with bronze and iron was practiced. About the 1st century BC, many of the Indonesian people lived in political groups that were rarely larger than family-based tribal units. Cultural expressions like wayang theater, gamelan orchestra, and batik date from this time or earlier.
Trade between Indonesia and India’s Bay of Bengal most likely began in the 1st and 2nd century AD. Although most historians no longer believe earlier theories that Indians conquered parts of Indonesia or settled it extensively, Indian culture exerted a powerful influence on the states that developed in the archipelago. Direct communication with China probably began between the 3rd and 5th century, as Indonesia exported cloves, tree resins, and camphor. In the early 5th century Faxian, a Chinese Buddhist pilgrim, and the princely monk Gunavarman from Kashmīr each wrote of direct voyages between western Indonesia and China.