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Chinese archaeologists expect to complete the reconstruction of two fossil human skulls dating back 730,000 years by the end of the year.

Archaeologists have measured accurately the brain size of the two fossil skulls of Yunxian man, confirmed to belong to Homo erectus, and the thickness of the cranial wall.

According to their measurements, the brain volume of Yunxian man was 1,064 ml and the skull thickness at the bregma, at the front of the skull, is 10.41 mm, compared with 7 to 9.9 mm for Peking man, discovered at Zhoukoudian, 48 km from Beijing, in 1929,and 7 mm for Nanjing man.

This provides material evidence that Yunxian man belongs to late Homo erectus, said Li Tianyuan, a researcher with Hubei Provincial Archaeological Institute.

The two skulls were excavated in Yunxian County, in central China's Hubei Province, in 1989. They have been distorted because they are covered and filled with solid calcium, the result of years of exposure to calcium-filled water.

Archaeologists used a China-made color laser scanner to make a three-dimensional image of the skulls, based on which the thickness of cranial wall was determined. They also used a computerized tomography (CT) scanner to measure the brain volume.

Experts said that due to the collapse of the skull cap and cracks on the cranial wall, the brain volume could be bigger than what has been determined when the skull is restored to normal shape, but it would not surpass 1,100 ml. The figure is quite close to the 1,075-ml brain volume of the Peking man.