Project/Area Number |
15255010
|
Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A)
|
Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
Section | 海外学術 |
Research Field |
Anthropology
|
Research Institution | National Museum of Nature and Science |
Principal Investigator |
BABA Hisao National Museum of Nature and Science, National Museum of Nature and Science, Chief, 人類研究部, 部長 (90049221)
|
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
KAIFU Yousuke National Museum of Nature and Science, National Museum of Nature and Science, Researcher, 人類研究部, 研究員 (20280521)
KONO Reiko T. National Museum of Nature and Science, National Museum of Nature and Science, Researcher, 人類研究部, 研究員 (30356266)
|
Project Period (FY) |
2003 – 2006
|
Project Status |
Completed (Fiscal Year 2006)
|
Budget Amount *help |
¥25,480,000 (Direct Cost: ¥19,600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥5,880,000)
Fiscal Year 2006: ¥5,590,000 (Direct Cost: ¥4,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,290,000)
Fiscal Year 2005: ¥5,720,000 (Direct Cost: ¥4,400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,320,000)
Fiscal Year 2004: ¥5,850,000 (Direct Cost: ¥4,500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,350,000)
Fiscal Year 2003: ¥8,320,000 (Direct Cost: ¥6,400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,920,000)
|
Keywords | human evolution / paleoanthropology / Homo erectus / Homo sapiens / Java / excavation / computed tomography / out of Africa / ジヤワ / 古人類学 / 人類化石 / ホモ・エレクトス / インドネシア / CT / サンブンマチャン |
Research Abstract |
Concerning the "arrival of Javanese Homo erectus" we focused on morphological analyses of the relatively abundant mandibular and dental materials. Evolutionary and phylogenetic position of the oldest Javanese hominids has been controversial and various views are expressed by specialists, ranging from "comparable to australopithecines" to "comparable to Zhoukoudian Homo erectus" Lack of comprehensive, systematic comparative analyses on the existing fossil materials is probably one of the major reasons of this confusion. We therefore investigated the majority of the existing fossil materials, taking latest chronological information for these fossils into consideration. The results suggest a view which is intermediate between the above two extreme views : the oldest Javanese hominids are most similar to early Homo erectus from Africa known from Kenya and other regions. At the same time, our analyses indicate that the Sangiran hominids were not homogeneous, but two morphologically distinct
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chronological groups are recognized. Regarding the "evolution and extinction," we focused on cranial remains because this element predominates among the later Pleistocene hominid remains from Java. In spite of the abundant fossil specimens, persistent limitations exist in the previous studies : analyses based on a small portion of the entire collection, and/or use of measurement data published by different researchers with varying methodologies. We observed and measured most of the existing cranial specimens from Java by ourselves, and constructed our own detailed measurement data set which is based on unified method. As a result, we found a series of significant morphological differences between the "early" (Trinil, Sangiran) and "later" (Ngandong) Javanese Homo erectus Furthermore, the three crania from Sambungmacan show largely intermediate morphological characteristics between the earlier and later groups. This supports the phylogenetic continuity in Java. At the same time, a number of morphological specializations seen in the Ngandong crania suggests discontinuity between Homo erectus and Homo sapiens populations in this region. Less
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