al” of African hominins to East Asia about2 million years ago”(14-15). But the Chinese disagree, seeing similar features in Asian apes, and proposingan Asian Homo origin. Fossil remains from this genus have been found in Africa, Indonesia, China, the Middle East, andEurope. The Pliocene record of hominins in Africa preceding H. erectus is extensive, “[...] whereas theAsian record holds little information to date” (15). But more recent findings in new areas and techniqueshave sprouted with hidden information yet to be known.A newly introduced potassium/argon dating technique was used to redate the Sangiran erectusfossils, found in Java. These fossils were found to be from 1.6 to 1.9 million years ago, twice as old aspreviously thought and at least as old as the oldest African erectus fossil. This opens up the possibilitythat H. erectus may have evolved somewhere other than Africa, evidently East Asia. For Westerners,plausible explanations for this include that they first appeared in Africa earlier than any of the fossils thathave been found, or that their expansion began shortly after they first evolved. Or maybe erectus evolvedin between Asia and Africa and migrated. “{...} [T]hen why haven’t any earlier fossil hominids been foundoutside Africa?”, asks Matt Cartmill author of the article “The Third Man”(185). If the dates are accurate,then these explanations are legitimate. But the Chinese scientists see it in a different light. According to many scientists, (both Chinese and Western amongst others) Homo erectus left thesavannah’s to which they were so well adapted because of reproductive success. Their big brains allowedthem to exploit their environment and make better and more varied tools. They could learn more and reasonout problems that their habitat posed. They also had a more complex social organization. With thepopulation increase, there may have been pr...
