ldescription of it wasn鈥檛 written until 1907； and then by a geologist named william sollas鈥渨ith only a passing petency in anatomy。鈥�
so instead the name and credit for the discovery of the first early humans went to theneander valley in germany鈥攏ot unfittingly； as it happens； for by uncanny coincidenceneander in greek means 鈥渘ew man。鈥潯here in 1856 workmen at another quarry； in a cliff faceoverlooking the d眉ssel river； found some curious…looking bones； which they passed to alocal schoolteacher； knowing he had an interest in all things natural。 to his great credit theteacher； johann karl fuhlrott； saw that he had some new type of human； though quite what itwas； and how special； would be matters of dispute for some time。
many people refused to accept that the neandertal bones were ancient at all。 august mayer；a professor at the university of bonn and a man of influence； insisted that the bones were1though dutch； dubois was from eijsden； a town bordering the french…speaking part of belgium。
merely those of a mongolian cossack soldier who had been wounded while fighting ingermany in 1814 and had crawled into the cave to die。 hearing of this； t。 h。 huxley inengland drily observed how remarkable it was that the soldier； though mortally wounded； hadclimbed sixty feet up a cliff； divested himself of his clothing and personal effects； sealed thecave opening； and buried himself under two feet of soil。 another anthropologist； puzzlingover the neandertal鈥檚 heavy brow ridge； suggested that it was the result of long…term frowningarising from a poorly healed forearm fracture。 （in their eagerness to reject the idea of earlierhumans； authorities were often willing to embrace the most singular possibilities。 at about thetime that dubois was setting out for sumatra； a skeleton found in p茅rigueux was confidentlydeclared to be that of an eskimo。 quite what an ancient eskimo was doing in southwestfrance was never fortably explained。 it was actually an early cro…magnon。）it was against this background that dubois began his search for ancient human bones。 hedid no digging himself； but instead used fifty convicts lent by the dutch authorities。 for a yearthey worked on sumatra； then transferred to java。 and there in 1891； dubois鈥攐r rather histeam； for dubois himself seldom visited the sites鈥攆ound a section of ancient human craniumnow known as the trinil skullcap。 though only part of a skull； it showed that the owner hadhad distinctly nonhuman features but a much larger brain than any ape。 dubois called itanthropithecus erectus （later changed for technical reasons to pithecanthropus erectus） anddeclared it the missing link between apes and humans。 it quickly became popularized as 鈥渏avaman。鈥潯oday we know it as homo erectus。
the next year dubois鈥檚 workers found a virtually plete thighbone that lookedsurprisingly modern。 in fact； many anthropologists think itis modern； and has nothing to dowith java man。 if it is an erectus bone； it is unlike any other found since。 nonetheless duboisused the thighbone to deduce鈥攃orrectly； as it turned out鈥攖hat pithecanthropus walkedupright。 he also produced； with nothing but a scrap of cranium and one tooth； a model of theplete skull； which also proved uncannily accurate。
in 1895； dubois returned to europe； expecting a triumphal reception。 in fact； he met nearlythe opposite reaction。 most scientists disliked both his conclusions and the arrogant manner inwhich he presented them。 the skullcap； they said； was that of an ape； probably a gibbon； andnot of any early human。 hoping to bolster his case； in 1897 dubois allowed a respectedanatomist from the university of strasbourg； gustav schwalbe； to make a cast of the skullcap。
to dubois鈥檚 dismay； schwalbe thereupon produced a monograph that received far moresympathetic attention than anything dubois had written and followed with a lecture tour inwhich he was celebrated nearly as warmly as if he had dug up the skull himself。 appalled andembittered； dubois withdrew into an undistinguished position as a professor of geology at theuniversity of amsterdam and for the next two decades refused to let anyone examine hisprecious fossils again。 he died in 1940 an unhappy man。
meanwhile； and half a world away； in late 1924 raymond dart； the australian…born head ofanatomy at the university of the witwatersrand in johannesburg； was sent a small butremarkably plete skull of a child； with an intact face； a lower jaw； and what is known asan endocast鈥攁 natural cast of the brain鈥攆rom a limestone quarry on the edge of the kalaharidesert at a dusty spot called taung。 dart could see at once that the taung skull was not of ahomo erectus like dubois鈥檚 java man； but from an earlier； more apelike creature。 he placedits age at two million years and dubbed it australopithecus africanus； or 鈥渟outhern ape man ofafrica。鈥潯n a report to nature； dart called the taung remains 鈥渁mazingly human鈥潯nd suggested the need for an entirely new family； homo simiadae （鈥渢he man…apes鈥潱弧oacmodate the find。
the authorities were even less favorably disposed to dart than they had been to dubois。
nearly everything about his theory鈥攊ndeed； nearly everything about dart； it appears鈥攁nnoyed them。 first he had proved himself lamentably presumptuous by conducting theanalysis himself rather than calling on the help of more worldly experts in europe。 even hischosen name； australopithecus； showed a lack of scholarly application； bining as it didgreek and latin roots。 above all； his conclusions flew in the face of accepted wisdom。
humans and apes； it was agreed； had split apart at least fifteen million years ago in asia。 ifhumans had arisen in africa； why； that would make us negroid； for goodness sake。 it wasrather as if someone working today were to announce that he had found the ancestral bones ofhumans in； say； missouri。 it just didn鈥檛 fit with what was known。
dart鈥檚 sole supporter of note was robert broom； a scottish…born physician andpaleontologist of considerable intellect and cherishably eccentric nature。 it was broom鈥檚habit； for instance； to do his fieldwork naked when the weather was warm； which was often。
he was also known for conducting dubious anatomical experiments on his poorer and moretractable patients。 when the patients died； which was also often； he would sometimes burytheir bodies in his back garden to dig up for study later。
broom was an acplished paleontologist； and since he was also resident in south africahe was able to examine the taung skull at first hand。 he could see at once that it was asimportant as dart supposed and spoke out vigorously on dart鈥檚 behalf； but to no effect。 forthe next fifty years the received wisdom was that the taung child was an ape and nothingmore。 most textbooks didn鈥檛 even mention it。 dart spent five years working up a monograph；but could find no one to publish it。 eventually he gave up the quest to publish altogether（though he did continue hunting for fossils）。 for years； the skull鈥攖oday recognized as one ofthe supreme treasures of anthropology鈥攕at as a paperweight on a colleague鈥檚 desk。
at the time dart made his announcement in 1924； only four categories of ancient hominidwere known鈥攈omo heidelbergensis； homo rhodesiensis； neandertals； and dubois鈥檚 javaman鈥攂ut all that was about to change in a very big way。
first； in china； a gifted canadian amateur named davidson black began to poke around ata place； dragon bone hill； that was locally famous as a hunting ground for old bones。
unfortunately； rather than preserving the bones for study； the chinese ground them up tomake medicines。 we can only guess how many priceless homo erectus bones ended up as asort of chinese equivalent of bicarbonate of soda。 the site had been much denuded by thetime black arrived； but he found a single fossilized molar and on the basis of that alone quitebrilliantly announced the discovery of sinanthropus pekinensis； which quickly became knownas peking man。
at black鈥檚 urging； more determined excavations were undertaken and many other bonesfound。 unfortunately all were lost the day after the japanese attack on pearl harbor in 1941when a contingent of u。s。 marines； trying to spirit the bones （and