discoveries indicate that the first Indonesian man lived on the
island of Java. Excavations by archaeologists have produced fossils
of ancient men in Java and the remains of their culture. At the
end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century fossils
of men were found from the Old Stone Age
(Palaeolithic) like the Pithecantropus Erectus in Trinil, a village
in the region of Madiun, the Homo Mojokertensis in Mojokerto close
to Surabaya, and the Homo Soloensis in the village of Ngandong on
the river-bank of the Solo river at Madiun.
of the creatures of the Palaeolithic still display features and
characteristics of "semi-apes". it is only the last one,
the Homo Soloensis, that can in fact be called a real human being.
The culture of Palaeolithic man was still very low. The remains
of this culture at present available, look just like pieces of stone
but they functioned as an axe or a breaking implement. Considering
the very primitive level of the remains of these tools, it can be
said that men of this age did not possess a culture yet.
following Period was the Middle Stone Age or Mesolithic. From the
remains of this period which have not only been found in Java but
also in Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi and other islands, we can
say that men from the Mesolithic in Indonesia were in fact real
human beings. Men from this period appear to have possessed