The spelling of "Lantian man" is based on the name of the Lantian County in Shaanxi province, China, where the fossilized remains of Homo erectus were discovered in 1963. The pronunciation of "Lantian" is [lænˈtjɛn] in IPA phonetic transcription, with stress on the first syllable. The spelling reflects the Mandarin pronunciation of the name, which can also be transliterated as "Lan-tien" or "Lan-tien-jen" in older systems using Wade-Giles or Postal Romanization. The term "Lantian man" is still widely used in paleoanthropology to refer to this important prehistoric find.
Lantian Man, also known as Lantian Homo erectus, refers to the prehistoric hominin fossil remains discovered in Lantian County, Shaanxi Province, China. The term signifies an important find in the field of paleoanthropology, representing an extinct species of early humans that existed during the Pleistocene epoch.
Lantian Man is believed to have lived approximately 1.15 to 1.63 million years ago, making it one of the oldest hominin fossils discovered in East Asia. The fossils were found in the early 1960s by a team of Chinese archaeologists, led by Zhu Zhi, in Gongwangling, a site within Lantian County.
The remains consist of a partial cranium and several teeth, offering valuable insights into the anatomy and characteristics of this ancient hominin species. Lantian Man display certain primitive traits, such as a low and elongated cranium, suggesting similarities with earlier Homo species.
Through the study of Lantian Man, scientists have gained insights into the evolutionary development and distribution of early humans across different regions of the world. Furthermore, it has contributed to our understanding of Homo erectus, an important branch in the human family tree.
The discovery and subsequent analysis of Lantian Man have played a significant role in expanding our knowledge of human evolution, helping to connect the dots between various hominin species, their migration patterns, and the timeline of our evolutionary history.
The term "Lantian man" refers to a Homo erectus individual whose fossil remains were discovered in Lantian County, Shaanxi Province, China. It is not a term with a specific etymology, as it is a combination of the archaeological site name "Lantian" and the term "man" to denote a human ancestor. The Lantian County itself is named after its location and does not have a known linguistic origin.