Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian

Round-topped Dragon Bone Hill lies northwest of Zhoukoudian, a town in suburban Beijing. In the past, people used to Quarry limestone on the hill, and they often came across animal fossils that they used as a medicine called Dragon Bone. Thus the hill was named Dragon Bone Hill. At that time, however, nobody knew that the hill was once the home of Peking (Beijing) Man (Homo erectus pekinensis), the ancestor of the Chinese people.

In 1921, Yohan Qunnar Andersson (1874-1960), a Swedish geologist and archaeologist, visited the hill as adviser to the Mining Council of the Chinese government. “I have a hunch that the remains of our ancestors are resting underfoot right here,” he said.

His hunch was proved true by the Austrian paleontologist Otto Zhansky, who discovered two teeth of Peking Man. Then, in 1926, Yohan Qunnar Andersson announced the discovery at a welcoming party in China for the Prince of Sweden and his wife.

The systematic excavation of the fossils of Peking Man started in 1927. The following ten years provided important discoveries, especially in 1929, when a team of scientists led by Pei Wenzhong discovered the top of a skull. The discovery caused a stir worldwide, and provided evidence that Java Man in Indonesia was fully human. Since then, the cave lived in by Peking Man at Zhoukoudian has become a world-renowned anthropological site.

The remains of Peking Man were first discovered in a limestone cave filled with more than 40 meters of deposits. The cave resembled a deep well, and the deposits were stratified in 17 layers, with the remains of Peking Man distributed from the third through the eleventh. Examinations of six skulls, 15 mandibles, more than 150 teeth, and many pieces of limb bones, as well as the layers in which the findings were unearthed, revealed that Peking Man lived as early as 690,000 years ago.

The restoration of the unearthed skeletons of more than 42 individuals of different ages and both sexes indicated that the trunk and limbs of Peking Man were similar to those of modern man although Peking Man was a little shorter. The top of his skull was low and flat, the ridges above the eye sockets were raised markedly, his face and mouth protruded, and his chin receded, all apelike characteristics. He could walk fully erect, and his cranial capacity was two-thirds the size of modern man's.

The geological and topographic features at Zhoukoudian and the animal and plant fossils unearthed at the first excavation site on Dragon Bone Hill can give one an idea of Peking Man's environment. In the rolling hills northwest of Dragon Bone Hill, saber-toothed tigers, boars, sika deer, and rhinoceroses roamed. A vast area of grassland to the southeast was frequented by megaloceroses, antelopes, and the primitive horse Equus sanmeniensis. The rivers and lakes at the foot of the hill were inhabited by beavers, otters, and buffaloes, and the caves were home to cave bears and hyenas.

For food, Peking Man hunted deer and small animals and gathered wild fruit, leaves, roots, and tubers. He fought against ferocious predators to protect himself.

The discovery of a large quantity of stone tools showed that in the course of struggling against nature, Peking Man learned how to make stone implements, which he used to fell trees, trim wooden clubs, and dismember game. Layers of ash found in the caves show that Peking Man could use and control fire, and the ash deposits were sometimes six meters thick. Peking Man is, in fact, the earliest known user of fire.

In 1933, fossilized remains of Upper Cave Man, believed to have lived 18,000 years ago, were found in a cave near the crest of Dragon Bone Hill. The skulls show that Upper Cave Man was of the ancient yellow race. Also unearthed were stone implements along with a bone needle and personal adornments of rather advanced workmanship. Researches reveal that Upper Cave Man lived by hunting and fishing and knew how to sew garments of animal skins. It appears that he practiced a kind of primeval religion. Unfortunately, most of the unearthed remains of Peking Man and Upper Cave Man disappeared in the hands of a few Americans around the time of the bombing of pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and the whereabouts of the remains are still unknown.

In 1973, fossilized teeth of New Cave Man were brought to light at the northeastern corner of Dragon Bone Hill. Scientific dating determined that New Cave Man lived about 100,000 years ago, between the periods of Peking Man and Upper Cave Man.

Zhoukoudian has the most complete fossils of Homo erectus so far discovered anywhere. It holds an unshakable and irreplaceable position in the study of paleoanthropology in the world today. In 1987, the town was designated as a World Cultural Heritage by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The wealth of Zhoukoudian is now shared by all mankind.