Body surface isopotential maps around early ventricular activation were investigated in 30 normal subjects by the use of the authors' signal-averaged body surface mapping system. The number of beats averaged was 96-154 (mean, 127). Two distinct patterns were recognized in the appearance of a maximum at the onset of ventricular activation: the maximum in the first type (n = 16) was located on the right anterior chest; the maximum in the second type (n = 14) was on the central or left anterior chest. The site of the earliest ventricular activation was considered to be different in each of these types. During early ventricular activation, 25 subjects (83%) had two minima: one was on the left lateral chest and the other was on the left back. The two minima probably reflect two different receding activation fronts in the ventricles. The data in the present study are important to the understanding of the early ventricular activation process, as well as the diagnosis of heart diseases in which this process is disturbed.