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Human fossils, 300,000 years older than Sangiran man, found in Bumiayu
Brebes administration welcomed the finding with a plan to build an “international museum” to house the fossils.
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Face reconstructions of the Sangiran early man by 17 sculptors from Yogyakarta are exhibited in Sangiran Museum in Central Java. (Tribunnnews.com/Galih Permadi)
T
he Yogyakarta Archaeological Center has reportedly found fossils of Homo erectus near the Glagah River in Bumiayu subdistrict, Brebes, Central Java, estimated to be 300,000 years older than the erstwhile oldest archaic human fossils ever found in Indonesia.
The team of archeologists estimated that the fossils were around 1.8 million years old, or about 300,000 years older than the Sangiran man’s fossils, which are estimated to date back to 1.5 million years ago and until now has been believed to be the oldest. This finding makes the Bumiayu fossil the oldest archaic human that has ever been found not only in Java but also in Indonesia.
“We have just finished our research on this finding with our team that consists of 10 experts on archaic human experts, artifact experts, geologists, paleontologists, IT graphic design experts and other experts,” the team leader, Harry Widianto, told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
Harry said the team received information about the fossils from people in Bumiayu who told the Sangiran Ancient Human Museum in Sragen, Central Java that they had found several fossils in their area.
“We then started our research there last week,” he said.
They found three thigh bones, one fracture of a lower jaw, along with the root of teeth and a piece of a femur. The Homo erectus that they found was 170 centimeters tall.
“This finding in Bumiayu is different from the fossils found in Sangiran, Central Java, which were 1.5 million years old. What we found in Bumiayu is from the Homo erectus group, its development was based on local evolution, which we call multiregional," he said.
