Mapa man, Maba craniumfossil fragments of an individual classified as homo sapiens, consisting of a frontal bone with parts of both eye sockets and part of the right half of the skull. The fragments were found in 1958 in a limestone cave at Ma-pa, Kwangtung Province, China. The skull is large, with rounded, capacious eye sockets and heavy browridges. The dating of the find is not conclusive, but it is believed the skull predates or is contemporaneous with Neanderthal man of Europe. It has been suggested this skull represents one member of an extinct population contemporaneous with, but distinct from, the Neanderthal peoples of Europe and western Asiaancient human skull found in 1958 near the village of Maba (Ma-pa), Guangdong (Kwangtung) province, southern China. Intermediate in form between Homo erectus and H. sapiens, the remains are referred by many authorities to archaic H. sapiens or to an Asian extension of H. heidelbergensis.

Local farmers discovered the specimen and alerted scientists. The fossils consist of a skullcap and parts of the right upper face, including bones of the nose. As on H. erectus, the browridges are pronounced, forming an arch over each eye, and the bones of the braincase are low and thick. Even so, the brain was apparently larger than that of H. erectus, though precise measurement of cranial capacity is not possible, as the skull’s base is incomplete.

Animal fossils found with the skull have been dated to about 130,000 years ago, during which time Neanderthals (H. neanderthalensis) occupied Europe. The original scientific description of the specimen noted similarities to European and western Asian Neanderthals, but the Maba cranium lacks the unique anatomic features of Neanderthals and thus makes classification difficult.