Age control of the first appearance datum for Javanese Homo erectus in the Sangiran area

Dating the arrival of the first hominins in Java The World Heritage archaeological site at Sangiran on the island of Java in Indonesia has major importance for the understanding of human arrival and evolution in Asia. However, the timing of the first appearance of Homo erectus at the site has been controversial. Using a combination of dating techniques for hominin-bearing sediments, Matsu'ura et al. resolved the arrival of H. erectus at ∼1.3 million years ago (see the Perspective by Brasseur). This dating suggests that the earliest hominins in Sangiran are at least 200,000 years younger than has been thought and may represent an important step to the resolution of the controversy. Science , this issue p. 210 ; see also p. 147