Trinil, Archaeological site in Ngawi, Indonesia

Trinil is an excavation area on the banks of the Bengawan Solo River in eastern Java, known as the site where important fossils and stone implements from early human history were unearthed. A small museum near the riverbank displays replica bones and tools, with panels explaining the excavation process and the context of the finds.

In 1891 the Dutch anatomist Eugène Dubois found the first early hominin remains outside Europe at Trinil, on the Bengawan Solo: the skullcap and thighbone of the "Java Man" (Pithecanthropus erectus, now Homo erectus). In 1893 he uncovered further fossils of this species along with ancient animal and plant remains.

The site gives its name to the Trinil museum, built on three hectares on the initiative of Teuku Jacob, a physical anthropologist at Gadjah Mada University. Its collection holds the Pithecanthropus erectus skull fossil, the lower jaw of an extinct tiger (Felis tigris), tusks and upper molars of Stegodon trigonocephalus, and the horn of an extinct bull (Bibos palaeosondaicus).

The location lies about an hour's drive from larger towns in a rural setting, so arriving by private vehicle or organized group is advisable. The museum grounds are flat and accessible via paved paths, making it easier to explore even in warm weather.

Alongside human fossils, excavations here uncovered petrified remains of elephants, rhinoceroses, and large turtles, painting a picture of the wildlife that roamed here hundreds of thousands of years ago. These finds show that the river once supported large mammals that have long since vanished from the region.