The Sunda Shelf is home to a rich Pleistocene hominin fossil record, including specimens of Homo floresiensis, Homo luzonensis, Homo erectus, and archaic Homo. Much of the Sunda Shelf is submerged. At times during the Pleistocene, however, the shelf was exposed, forming the large landmass known as Sundaland.

The two fossils are the first ever hominin fossils from submerged Sundaland and demonstrate that Homo erectus populations extended beyond Java onto the exposed lowland plains during the Middle Pleistocene.

It is likely that other hominin populations migrated south in a similar manner; however, limited fossil evidence complicates the understanding of the evolution and migration of these species. It is likely that more fossils are to be found on the submerged Sundaland seabed.