Published : 2024-11-03
On November 3, 1964, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) announced the discovery of a well-preserved female skull fossil in Lantian County, Shaanxi Province, known as "Lantian Man" (藍田人).
The fossil was found in the strata of Gongwangling in Lantian County.
After indoor restoration, a near-complete ape-man skull fossil was reconstructed, including a complete frontal bone, most of the parietal bones, the right temporal bone, the maxilla (with the second and third molars), the left maxilla and its frontal process, most of the left nasal bone and the basal part of the right nasal bone, as well as one left upper second molar.
Analysis confirmed that these fossils all belonged to a female individual aged over 30. Based on the cranial suture closure and tooth wear, it was judged that she was between 30 and 40 years old at the time of death.
Subsequent research found that Lantian Man exhibited more primitive traits compared to Zhoukoudian Peking Man and shared similarities with Java Man, which might suggest that it represents a more primitive form of Homo erectus and is currently the oldest known Homo erectus in northern Asia.
Based on the nature of the fauna and determinations using palaeomagnetism and amino acids, the geological age of Gongwangling is Early Middle Pleistocene, dating back 1.63 to 1.15 million years ago.
The discovery of Lantian Man has been hailed by the archaeology community as a significant find of the 1960s.
It not only expanded the known distribution range of Chinese ape-men but also provided crucial evidence for the development of ancient cultures in China's Yellow River Basin.
