Two main theories have been suggested to explain modern human origins. The Multiregional Evolution Model proposes that modern humans evolved from several archaic human populations in various regions of the Old World over a long period of time. In this model Java Man has played an important ancestral role for the shaping of the Australian Aboriginal populations. The opposing theory, known as the Out of Africa Theory emphasises replacement as the dominant mechanism responsible for the disappearance of archaic hominid populations and the spread of modern humans. Neither Multiregionalists nor Out of Africans have seriously factored in the unique geographic and ecological Australasian context in which members of the genus Homo evolved. Because geographic and ecological barriers have been an important factor in shaping the distribution and characteristics of Australasian mammalian faunas, I suggest that these same barriers may be at least partly responsible for the distribution and evolutionary history of humans in this part of the world. Taking an environmental perspective on the evolutionary history of the human lineage in this region leads to a scenario in which both local evolution and replacement play a role.

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Grondboor & Hamer

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Nederlandse Geologische Vereniging

P. Storm. (2002). Javamens geen voorouder van de Aboriginals : een ecologische kijk op oud vraagstuk. Grondboor & Hamer, 56(5), 124–133.