Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Catalog of Chinese Human Fossils
• Position Papers
• Links to Other Sites - now on a separate page for ease of use
• Find out about the Patron Saint of Chinese Paleontology, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
• Experimental Open Forum - now fully functional
• Research Activities
• Acknowledgements
• Coming Attractions
• WebMaster

Introduction

This page introduces the fossil evidence for human evolution in China. At present it includes a catalog of Chinese human fossil remains consisting of: a picture gallery of important fossil specimens, maps detailing the distribution of human fossils, and a time line; links to other relevant sites dealing with paleontology, human evolution and Chinese prehistory; and other resources which may be useful for gaining a better understanding of China's role in the emergence of humankind. More features will be added in the near future

Catalog of Human Fossils from China

The fossil record of human evolution in China has increased dramatically within the last two decades. The following resources are meant to introduce both earlier and more recent fossil hominid discoveries from China. These include examples of the archaic human ancestor H. erectus; pre-modern forms of H. sapiens, which are intermediate in time and morphology between H. erectus and anatomically modern people; and early forms of fully modern H. sapiens known from China. In order to facilitate browsing this information you can go directly to page one of the picture gallery, or first go to the table of fossil specimens and locate the specimen (cataloged by province) you are interested in viewing, then click on its location name to jump to the picture gallery, where a photo and caption are available. You can also start out from the maps page or time-line. The latter two resources are client maintained "usemaps" configured for PCs using Windows 3.1 and Netscape 3.0. They may not be operational with other browsers or operating systems.

• A Table Listing All Chinese Fossil Hominids Known to Date
• Picture gallery - Photographs of Major Chinese Fossil Ape and Human Specimens - ( Page 1, non-human primates | Page 2, pre-Zhoukoudian H. erectus| Page 3, Zhoukoudian H. erectus | Page 4, post-Zhoukoudian H. erectus | Page 5, pre-modern H. sapiens | Page 6, late pre-modern/early modern H. sapiens)
• Atlas of Human Evolution in China
• Interactive Time Line of Human Evolution in China

Position Papers and Full Length Articles

• The Fossil Evidence for Human Evolution in Asia - by Dennis A Etler. A comprehensive review of all fossil hominids known from the Asian mainland with a primary focus on China. Includes a discussion of various interpretive paradigms of human evolution during the Pleistocene and the role Asia played in the evolution of modern people.
• The African Emergence and Early Asian Dispersals of the Genus Homo - by Roy Larick and Russell L. Ciochon. This article, from the recent issue of American Scientist, gives a full accounting of recent reinterpretations of the Asian fossil human record based on new discoveries purported to represent early Homo from Longgupo, Sichuan China and controversial redatings of previously known hominids from Java. See the following position paper by yours truly for a rebuttal.
• Implications of New Fossil Material Attributed to Plio-Pleistocene Asian Hominidae - by Dennis A. Etler. Rebuttal to recent reports of the discovery of an early species of the genus Homo from Longgupo, Sichuan, China (see article above for a contrary interpretation).
• The Journal of NIH Research, January, 1996: Questions Surround Dispersed Hominids - Another critical look at the recently announced fossil "hominid" from Longgupo by Dr. Pat Shipman.
• Searching for Our Primate Ancestors in China - Chris Beard and Mary Dawson of the Carnegie Museum and colleagues from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing discovered fossils documenting an early stage in the evolution of higher primates while working alongside the Yellow River in central China. The 40 million-year-old primate (Eosimias centennicus), represented by its complete lower jaws, supports the theory that the higher primate lineage, which includes the distant ancestors of humans, split off from all other primates about 55 million years ago, during the early part of the Age of Mammals (from Carnagie Magazine On-line).
• Race and Language in Prehistory - Provocative essay by Prof. Vince Sarich of the University of California at Berkeley on recent human phylogeny.

Acknowledgements

This Website is made possible by grants from the National Science Foundation, the Committee on Scholarly Communication with China and the L.S.B. Leakey Foundation. Its sponsoring organization, the Center for Study of Chinese Prehistory, is a non-profit, unincorporated California association.

Coming Attractions

More features to be added in the near future include improved graphics (color pictures), pages describing the Chinese Paleolithic and Neolithic, and a section reviewing research at the H. erectus site in Yunxian, Hubei.

WebMaster

My research focuses on the paleoanthropology, Paleolithic archeology and Quaternary geology of China. Here I am seated with Prof. Jia Lanpo (center) of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, and Prof. Li Tianyuan (right) of the Hubei Archeological Institute, in Prof. Jia's study in Beijing.

This site has been selected as a HOT Anthropology Website by the Anthro grads at the University of California, Santa Barbara