Abstract: The Nanjing 2 calvarium is believed to represent Homo sapiens erectus since its discovery in 1993. This calvarium preserves incomplete frontal, parietal, and occipital bones. The parietal and occipital bones are cracked and as their fragments are displaced the calvarium appears to be distorted. The calvarium was recently restored by the authors, exposing some anatomical details that had previously been obscured. Compared with Homo sapiens erectus, the restored calvarium presents larger parietal bones, a relatively narrow upper scale of occipital bone and a probable larger cranial capacity, which suggests affinities with Homo sapiens sapiens. Other anatomical details observed in the parietal and occipital bones are examined in this paper including the angular torus, parietal border of temporal squamous part, the occipital torus, the angle between the occipital and nuchal planes, the distance between inion and endinion, cranial vault thickness, the branches of the middle meningeal artery and the coronal contour of the vault. The results of this examination reveal that there must be some uncertainty in referring the Nanjing 2 calvarium to Homo sapiens erectus. It is more likely that the Nanjing 2 belongs to Homo sapiens sapiens.

Key words: Nanjing 2; Restoration; Homo sapiens erectus; Homo sapiens