9419529 Etler This award provides support for a postdoctoral fellowship for Dennis Etler to conduct paleoanthropological research in China on important human fossil discoveries at the Yunxian site. This research is expected to contribute to improved understanding of the evolution of early man in China. The research will be conducted in collaboration with the Hubei Archaeological Institute, Wuhan, China. Initial work at the Yunxian site suggest that the fossil human skulls found at the site are very old, perhaps in excess of 780,000 years old. They are the most complete crania of such great antiquity found to date on the Asian mainland and will undoubtedly be the subject of wide-ranging discussions in paleoanthropological and archaeological circles for years to come. This postdoctoral fellowship should pave the way for a larger interdisciplinary effort and provide important access for U.S. researchers to this site in the future.
