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Science 13 December 1996:
Vol. 274. no. 5294, pp. 1870 - 1874
DOI: 10.1126/science.274.5294.1870
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Reports

Latest Homo erectus of Java: Potential Contemporaneity with Homo sapiens in Southeast Asia

C. C. Swisher III, W. J. Rink, S. C. Antón, H. P. Schwarcz, G. H. Curtis, A. Suprijo, Widiasmoro

Hominid fossils from Ngandong and Sambungmacan, Central Java, are considered the most morphologically advanced representatives of Homo erectus. Electron spin resonance (ESR) and mass spectrometric U-series dating of fossil bovid teeth collected from the hominid-bearing levels at these sites gave mean ages of 27 ± 2 to 53.3 ± 4 thousand years ago; the range in ages reflects uncertainties in uranium migration histories. These ages are 20,000 to 400,000 years younger than previous age estimates for these hominids and indicate that H. erectus may have survived on Java at least 250,000 years longer than on the Asian mainland, and perhaps 1 million years longer than in Africa. The new ages raise the possibility that H. erectus overlapped in time with anatomically modern humans (H. sapiens) in Southeast Asia.

C. C. Swisher III and G. H. Curtis, Berkeley Geochronology Center, 2455 Ridge Road, Berkeley, CA 94709 USA.
W. J. Rink and H. P. Schwarcz, Department of Geology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8S 4M1.
S. C. Antón, Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.
A. Suprijo and Widiasmoro, Laboratory of Bioanthropology and Paleoanthropology, Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, 55281.

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