Eugène Dubois and the Ape-Man from Java: The History of the First ‘Missing Link’ and Its Discoverer

226 Pages·1990·7.6 MB·English

by  Bert Theunissen (auth.)

EUGENE DUBOIS AND THE APE-MAN FROM JAVA

BERT THEUNISSEN
Institute for the History of Science
University of Utrecht, The Netherlands
Eugene Dubois and
the Ape-Man from Java
The History of the First 'Missing Link'
and Its Discoverer
Kluwer Academic Publishers
DORDRECHT / BOSTON / LONDON
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Theun1ssen, Bert, 1955-
Eugene Dubois and the ape-man from Java: the h1story of the first
missing link and Its discoverer I Bert Theun1ssen.
p. CIII.
Or1g1nally presented as the author's thesis (Ph. 0.--1985) under
the title: Eugene Dubois en de aapmens van Java.
B1bl1ography: p.
Includes index.
ISBN-13: 978-94-010-7491-9 e-ISBN-13: 978-94-009-2209-9
DOl: 10.1007/978-94-009-2209-9
I. P1thecanthropus erectus. 2. Dubo1s. Eugene, 1858-1940.
3. Anthropology, Prehlstor1c. 4. Foss11 man--Indonesla--Java.
1. Title.
GN284.6.T48 1988
573.3--dcI9 86-19223
CIP
First published as Eugene Dubois en de aapmens van Java by Rodopi, Amsterdam, 1985.
Translated from Dutch by Enid Perlin-West.
Published by Kluwer Academic Publishers,
P.O. Box 17, 3300 AA Dordrecht, The Netherlands.
Kluwer Academic Publishers incorporates
the publishing programmes of
D. Reidel, Martinus Nijhoff, Dr W. Junk and MTP Press.
Sold and distributed in the U.S.A. and Canada
by Kluwer Academic Publishers Group,
P.O. Box 332, 3300 AH Dordrecht, The Netherlands.
All Rights Reserved
© 1989 by Kluwer Academic Publishers
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1s t edition 1989
No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or utilized in
any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or
by any inrormation storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the copy
right owners.
For Inge Nicolette
CONTENTS
FOREWORD BY RICHARD E. LEAKEY IX
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT xi
INTRODUCTION 1
CHAPTER 1: THE NINETEENTH-CENTURY BACKGROUND
The theory of evolution and the position of Man 4
The interpretation of human fossils 8
The role of palaeontology and anthropology 12
CHAPTER 2: THE ROAD TO TRINIL
Eijsden and Roermond 22
Amsterdam 24
To the Dutch East Indies 27
Sumatra 37
Java 43
CHAPTER 3: PITHECANTHROPUS ERECTUS
The discovery 53
The description 61
The construction of a missing link 67
CHAPTER 4: THE DEBATE
Introduction 79
Criticism 80
Dubois' reply 89
Rejoinder 98
From Pithecanthropus to an evolutionary palaeoanthropology 108
Epilogue 117
VIII
CHAPTER 5: CEPHALISATION, PITHECANTHROPUS,
AND EVOLUTION
Introduction 128
The theory of cephalisation 129
Cephalisation and Pithecanthropus 146
Pithecanthropus and Sinanthropus 155
Idealist and pioneer 164
SOURCES
Manuscript sources 182
Publications by Dubois 182
Literature 190
List of illustrations 207
INDEX 209
FOREWORD
Although the name Pithecanthropus is now seldom used, there are few who
study the origin of our species who will fail to recognise the historical place
of the usage and its association with Eugene Dubois. During the last thirty
or forty years, Australopithecus and its African context has tended to draw
attention from the early work on our origins in Java. It is now increasingly
common to hear the term 'pithecanthropine' used only to indicate the Asian
or Far Eastern examples of Homo erectus which, although probably derived
from African ancestry, have some features that in the opinion of some
experts may justify their being considered distinctive. This discussion is not
within the pages that follow which deal extensively with the work of Eugene
Dubois. He was an extraordinary man who did as much as any person since
to put the great antiquity of our ancestors firmly in the public domain.
Dubois became involved with the study of human origins from a medical and
anatomical background as have many since. The jealousies and professional
pressures that we think of as a phenomenon of the post-war years were
clearly a major factor in deciding the future of his career. I found it fascinat
ing to read of incidents which happened almost one hundred years ago that,
except for the personalities, could well be a description of events taking place
presently! Similarly, the professional and lay responses to some of his early
work remind me of responses today following the announcement and publi
cation of new discoveries and ideas. I feel better for knowing that one of the
great pioneers in the field experienced the same difficulties that persist to the
present but by the same token, I am saddened that so little has changed in
spite of the great wealth of data that is now before us.
This book is a valuable contribution. It brings out a wealth of background
and detail that has never before been presented in English and it will be a
useful source for many scholars seeking to undertake the early work that was
done in the Far East on human origins. The debate on Asia's role in the
evolution of our species continues to be present and will probably be an open
subject for some years yet. It is interesting to speculate on where Dubois
would have stood in the presence of the well preserved early African Homo
erectus material. The historical account of Eugene Dubois and the ape-man
from Java makes such speCUlation entirely justified although I think his
x
position would have been different depending upon the timing. This too
might well be the same for many of us today but there is much to be learned
from the fascinating account of the life and work of Eugene Dubois.
Richard Leakey
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I have benefitted from the help and advice of many people while writing this
book and an earlier, Dutch version of it which served as my PhD disser
tation. I wish to express my gratitude to all of them. Here I shall only mention
those who have assisted me in producing this English version. Professor
H.J.M. Bos, Professor c.A.W. Korenhof, Dr. G.N. van Vark and Dr. J. de
Vos read and commented upon (parts of) the manuscript; I thank them for
saving me from several blunders. Mrs. Enid Perlin-West translated the
Dutch text; I greatly enjoyed our 'samenwerking'. Anneke Schoonhoven
enabled me to see what I had written by typing and retyping the text. The
help of Lian Hielkema in proofreading has been invaluable. Finally, the
financial support, in the form of a translation grant, of the Dutch Organi
sation for Scientific Research (NWO) is gratefully acknowledged.