Several fossils of early forms of humans have been found in Java, including an early type of Homo erectus called Java man, found in 1891. Java man existed between 1.8 million and 800,000 years ago. Remains from 50,000 to 10,000 years ago indicate the coexistence of several direct ancestors of humans with affinities to both the northern Peking man (Homo erectus, formerly called Sinanthropus pekinensis) and to an eastern group whose fossils are found in Australia. Scattered stone tools have been found from this period; the characteristic implement was a chopper with a thick, steeply cut edge, which was occasionally pointed. Of major importance in shaping the socioeconomic base of Javanese culture was the cultivation of rice in irrigated fields. Labor and society were rooted in small villages (desas) presided over by regional chiefs. Women occupied a particularly significant position in the evolving Javanese social structure, which preserved traces of matrilineal descent and succession. Technological developments included the domestication of the ox and buffalo and use of the outrigger canoe, indicating the possibility of early maritime contact as far west as Madagascar and as far east as Easter Island. Several cultural phenomena that survive to the present day may also date from this period: the wayang (puppet-shadow theater), gamelan (wind and percussion orchestra), and batik (a technique of dyeing fabrics with the use of wax).
Several fossils of early forms of humans have been found in Java, including an early type of Homo erectus called Java man, found in 1891. Java man existed between 1.8 million and 800,000 years ago. Remains from 50,000 to 10,000 years ago indicate the coexistence of several direct ancestors of humans with affinities to both the northern Peking man (Homo erectus, formerly called Sinanthropus pekinensis) and to an eastern group whose fossils are found in Australia. Scattered stone tools have been found from this period; the characteristic implement was a chopper with a thick, steeply cut edge, which was occasionally pointed. Of major importance in shaping the socioeconomic base of Javanese culture was the cultivation of rice in irrigated fields. Labor and society were rooted in small villages (desas) presided over by regional chiefs. Women occupied a particularly significant position in the evolving Javanese social structure, which preserved traces of matrilineal descent and succession. Technological developments included the domestication of the ox and buffalo and use of the outrigger canoe, indicating the possibility of early maritime contact as far west as Madagascar and as far east as Easter Island. Several cultural phenomena that survive to the present day may also date from this period: the wayang (puppet-shadow theater), gamelan (wind and percussion orchestra), and batik (a technique of dyeing fabrics with the use of wax).