The only human fossils found before the discovery of Java Man in the 1890s were either of anatomically modern humans or of Neanderthals that were too close, especially in the critical characteristic of cranial capacity, to modern humans for them to be convincing intermediates between humans and other primates.
Jedini fosili čovjeka pronađeni prije otkrića javanskog čovjeka u 1890-ima bili su anatomski gledano moderni ljudi ili neandertalci koji su pak bili, posebice u kritičnoj karakteristici kapaciteta lubanje, previše bliski modernim ljudima da budu uvjerljivi posrednici između ljudi i ostalih primata.