Hominid Evolution in Southeast Asia: A Multidisciplinary Field Project in West Java, Indonesia

该项目将于1999年夏天继续在印度尼西亚西爪哇进行古人类学、考古学和地质学的实地考察工作。1997年6月，在西爪哇的两个地点进行了初步调查和发掘，发现了许多大型哺乳动物化石，与在中爪哇著名的早更新世古人类化石遗址桑吉兰发现的化石相似。然而，爪哇岛从西向东从海中出现，需要哺乳动物(包括原始人)通过西爪哇迁徙才能到达它的中部和东部。这一事实令人鼓舞，因为我们的实地工作有可能找回第一个西爪哇人，也可能是迄今发现的最古老的非非洲原始人。这项研究将直接解决重要的古人类学问题，包括：1)谁是第一批原始人，以及何时迁徙到东南亚的；2)他们的行为能力是什么；3)他们在该地区留下了现代人类后裔吗？除了具有人类学价值外，该项目还为加强和扩大印度尼西亚和美国的地质学家、考古学家和古人类学家之间的专业关系提供了机会。

This project will continue paleoanthropological, archaeological and geological fieldwork in West Java, Indonesia, during the summer of 1999. Preliminary surveys and excavations, undertaken at two sites in West Java during June 1997, brought to light numerous large mammal fossils similar to those found at the famous, early pleistocene fossil hominid site of Sangiran in Central Java. The island of Java, however, emerged from the sea from west to east, requiring mammals (including hominids) to migrate through western Java to reach its central and eastern portions. This fact is encouraging regarding the potential of our fieldwork to recover the first West Javan and possibly the most ancient non-African hominids yet found. Important paleoanthropological questions will be directly addressed by this research, including: 1) Who were, and when did, the first hominids migrate to southeastern Asia, 2) What were their behavioral capabilities, and 3) Did they leave any modern human descendants in the region? In addition to its anthropological value, this project presents an opportunity to reinforce and expand professional relationships between geologists, archaeologists and paleoanthropologists in Indonesia and the United States.