Alright, so check this out – a bunch of Homo erectus bones were discovered in a huge collection of over 6,000 fossils that were dredged up from the Madura Strait in Indonesia. That’s pretty wild, right? The bones were found as part of a construction project near Java, and this is the first time researchers have come across fossils from the sunken parts of the Indonesian archipelago. It’s like a whole new world down there!
New studies have revealed that these H. erectus bones belong to a population in Southeast Asia that could have had interactions with more modern humans. The submerged parts of Indonesia, known as drowned Sundaland, were once vast plains filled with rivers and teeming with all sorts of animal life like fish, turtles, sharks, hippos, and elephants. And get this – H. erectus was out there hunting turtles and large game, which is pretty impressive. Who knew they had such a diverse diet, right? Not really sure why this matters, but it’s still pretty cool.
The researchers found evidence of a hunting strategy that was similar to that of more modern humans on the Asian mainland. They think maybe there was some cultural exchange going on, or maybe the H. erectus population just figured it out on their own. It’s all a bit of a mystery, but it’s fascinating to think about how these ancient humans lived and survived. The human family tree is complicated, especially in Southeast Asia, and it’s amazing how much we’re still learning about our evolutionary history. Who would’ve thought we’d find all this out from some bones dredged up from the seafloor?
