Lantian Man

Lantian man, Wade-Giles Lan-t’ien, fossils of hominins (members of the human lineage) found in 1963 and 1964 by Chinese archaeologists at two sites in Lantian district, Shaanxi province, China. One specimen was found at each site: a cranium (skullcap) at Gongwangling (Kung-wang-ling) and a mandible (lower jaw) at Chenjiawo (Ch’en-chia-wo). Both appear to be female. Stone implements from a third site in Lantian may be contemporary with the fossils.

Named Sinanthropus lantianensis by its discoverers, Lantian man is now classified by most scholars as Homo erectus, as it resembles other Chinese and Indonesian fossils of this species, such as Java man and Peking man. The Lantian remains are believed to be about 1.1 million years old, almost as old as the earliest fossils of Java man and substantially older than Peking man. The Lantian skull most resembles that of a small-brained Java man, its cranial capacity being only 780 cubic cm (48 cubic inches).