Time Line of Human Evolution in China (Homo erectus - Premodern H. sapiens)

(Click on selected drawings to access specimen information)

Chinese Fossil Hominid Timeline Xujiayao has produced a number of fragmentary cranial elements of an advanced form of pre-modern H. sapiens. It is date to approximately 100 KYA. The Dali cranium is nearly complete. The upper jaw has been dislocated upwards. Dali represents a premodern form of H. sapiens. It is dated to approximately 180 KYA. The Jinniushan specimen is associated with a partial skeleton, including a nearly complete pelvis. Its robusticity led investigators to assume it was a male, but more recently it has been considered a female. It has been dated to approximately 250 KY The fragmentary Yiyuan remains, from Shandong province are very similar in overall character to those from Zhoukoudian. Dated to the Middle Pleistocene (~400 KYA). The famous H. erectus remains of Maba represents a premodern form of H. sapiens. It was the first such cranium found in China in 1958. Its dated to approximately 150 KYA. The Hexian cranium represents a form of H. erectus somewhat distinct from that at Zhoukoudian. Recent dating suggests it is older than first thought, perhaps in excess of 300 KYA. The most recent find of H. erectus in China, the Nanjing cranium seems to date to approximately 400KYA, contemporaneous with Peking Man with which it shows a great deal of morphological affinities. One of the few complete lower jaws from the Middle Pleistocene of China, the Chenjiawo specimen is date to about 560 KYA. The Yunxian crania, although crushed and distorted to varying degrees, are the most complete specimens of H. erectus known in Asia. They have recently been dated to between 600-800 KYA, considerably older than initial estimates. Although the Gongwangling cranium from Lantian is located north of the Qingling Mts. that devide north and south China, it was associated with a warm whether fauna. The Lantian cranium is the most primitive and oldest (800 KYA-1.15 MYA) H .erectus k