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Solo is a city in Indonesia, which is situated 65 km northeast of Yogyakarta, and 100 km southeast of Semarang. The formal name of the city is Surakarta, but then it is locally referred as Solo. Solo is the twin sister of Yogyakarta; in fact Solo resembles Yogyakarta in its look and appearance. The city also boasts of a rich historical and cultural heritage, along with Yogyakarta, the city is actually the heir of the Mataram kingdom which was fragmented in 1755. Today, Solo has become a major commercial hub and an important center of art and education of Indonesia. Despite being classified as an urban city, Solo rich cultural heritage and is often considered to be the least westernized city in Central java. Solo is also one of the premium tourist destinations of Indonesia that features all the requisites of being an avant-garde tourist destination. From spectacular natural attractions to thought provoking historical landmarks and monuments, you will find it all here. Sangiran Museum and Early Man Site, Solo is a popular tourist spot near the city, which attracts tourists from all over the world. Sangiran Museum and Early Man Site is actually an archaeological excavation site located in the island of Java in Indonesia. The site covers a area of about 48 square kilometer and it is only 15 km away from north of Surakarta in the Bengawan Solo River valley. Excavation in the area began in the year 1934, when renowned anthropologist Gustav Heinrich Ralph von Koenigswald commenced his examination of the site. In the succeeding years, excavations in the area unearthed fossils of some of the first known human ancestors, Pithecanthropus erectus, which is also dubbed as the “Java Man”. Excavations in the area continued till 1941 and during these years, 50 fossils of Meganthropus palaeo and Pithecanthropus erectus/Homo erectus were discovered. All these fossils add up to almost half of all the world's known hominid fossils. Thus, Sangiran has emerged as one of the key sites for the understanding of human evolution and today it has become one of the most visited sites in the country. The importance of the site can be further understood from the fact that UNESCO recognized Sangiran as a site of World Heritage in 1996.
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