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Article: Homo erectus shows staying power on Java. (human ancestor may have survived longer than previously believed)
- Article from:
- Science News
- Article date:
- December 14, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 Science Service, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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A fossil species often classified as a direct human ancestor survived much longer in Indonesia than previously suspected and may have coexisted for at least several thousand years with Homo sapiens, according to new age estimates for a fossil site in Java.
H. erectus, now estimated to have inhabited the Indonesian island of Java until sometime between 27,000 and 53,000 years ago, died out as H. sapiens more successfully exploited local Stone Age environments, assert Carl C. Swisher III of the Berkeley (Calif.) Geochronology Center and his colleagues. Many researchers have argued that a similar scenario played out in Europe and the Middle East, where Neandertals lived ...