INDIAN HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The oldest Southeast Asian Homo fossils, known as the Homo erectus Java Man, were found between layers of volcanic debris in Java, Indonesia. Fossils representing 40 Homo erectus individuals, known as Peking Man, were found near Beijing at Zhoukoudian that date to about 400, 000 years ago.

Detailed explanation-2: -The new fossil throws a wrench into the works of that theory. Yohannes Haile-Selassie of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and his colleagues recovered the cranium from an area in northeastern Ethiopia’s Afar region known as Woranso-Mille.

Detailed explanation-3: -Some scientists believe that Southeast Asians are the direct descendants of Homo erectus that migrated from Africa and across to Asia about 1.8 million years ago. The physical features typical of modern Asians can thus be traced back to Homo erectus specimens such as Dali and Peking Man.

Detailed explanation-4: -So far, the first signs of human presence in Asia are Homo erectus fossils dated to between 1.7 million and 1.9 million years ago in Dmanisi, Georgia, on Asia’s western edge, and in Java, Southeast Asia (Science, 12 May 2000, p. 948).