text: Fossilised remains of Homo erectus , popularly known as the `` Java Man '' , suggest the Indonesian archipelago was inhabited two million to 500,000 years ago .
simplified: The History of Indonesia or more precisely of the Indonesian archipelago in South East Asia with 17,508 islands goes back to Homo erectus ( popularly known as the `` Java Man '' ) . There have been found fossilized remains of about one million years ago .