The Site of Peking Man

The Site of Peking Man is located at Zhoukoudian Village, 48 kilometres southwest of Beijing. It is screened by mountains on the northwest with fertile land lying to its southeast. West of the Village stands the Dragon Bone Hill, noted for its large quantities of Chinese medicine dragon bone.

Formed by limestone in the Ordovician period, the Hill rises 70 metres above the river. It is there that the fossils of the Chinese ape-man and their caves were found.

The Chinese ape-man, also known as Peking Man, lived some 690,000 years ago, in mid-period of Pleistocene epoch. The first complete skull of Peking Man was discovered in December, 1929 by Pei Wenzhong, a Chinese paleoanthropologist. Later, large-scale excavations were done on several occasions, amounting to 25,000 cubic metres of earthwork. Fossils of men and vertebrates were found. Of men fossils alone, a total of 152 pieces were uncovered of skulls, fragments of skulls, facial bones, lower jawbones and teeth belonging to over 40 individuals of different ages and sexes.

The findings of 100,000 pieces of stone implements, charred bones and ashes have proved that Peking Man knew how to use fire and was capable of making production tools. The Site of Peking Man provides not only a valuable scientific basis for the study of the origin and development of mankind but also an important base for research in the origin of human species.

In the cave above that of Peking Man were found fossils of the Upper Cave Man. They lived more than 10,000 years ago.

The exhibition is put up by the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. On display are: Peking Man material and casts, reconstructed models of human fossils and the fossils of vertebrates discovered in various parts of China since 1949.

New discoveries since 1949 include five teeth, fragments of an upper arm bone and shin bone, a lower jaw bone and a skull cap. The shin bone is the first to have been discovered. Such an abundance of ape-man fossils found at a single site is rare in the world.

The exhibition is divided into three sections. The exhibits in the first section show the animal world before man. It depicts the early stage of the earth's existence when there was no living matter and the long process of its emergence from inorganic matter and the evolution of life from lower to higher stages. The pictures, fossils, casts and reconstructed models trace the history of the animal world with emphasis on the evolution of vertebrates.

In the second section, casts and models of Peking Man, his stone implements and ashes showing the use of fire by ape-man explain the origin and development of mankind.

The third section shows the research results in vertebrate paleontology and paleoanthropology. The exhibits include casts of human fossils of the ape-man and later periods excavated in China after liberation. On display are fossils of ape-man found at Yuanmou, Yunnan Province and at Lantian, Shaanxi Province; fossils of Mapa Man from Zhujiang County, Guangdong Province, of Changyang Man from Hubei Province; fossils of Ziyang Man from Sichuan Province and of Liujiang Man from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

The site was listed by the United Nations' Education, Science, and Culture Organization (UNESCO) as one of the world's heritages in 1987.

Whereabouts of Peking Man Remains

Fossil remains of Peking Man and some other higher primates were unearthed from 1927 to 1937, but disappeared during the Anti-Japanese War while they were in the hands of Americans. Their whereabouts is still a mystery.

In 1941, the relationship between Japan and the US was deteriorating. Professor Franz Weidenreich, a well-known anthropologist, decided to continue his study of Peking Man at the New York Natural History Museum. He suggested that the fossils be transferred there for safekeeping. Weidenreich discussed the matter with Professor Pei, saying that the fossils would go to the United States rather than be taken over by the Japanese. Professor Pei suggested that it be made clear that the fossils should be returned to China after the war.

In early December, the Peking Man and Upper Cave Man fossils were placed in two big wooden boxes. The boxes were first moved into a safe room, then in to the US Embassy, where they were supposed to be transferred to New York under the protection of the US marines.

After the Pearl Harbour Incident of December 8, 1941, the Peking Union Medical College was taken over by the Japanese troops. Two soldiers with rifles in their hands dashed to the office of Anatomy Seciton and kept watch over the safes in which the specimens had been kept. The Japanese drove away Weidenreich's typist, an Austrian woman, who had keys to the safes. But inside they found only replicas.

In August 1942, the Japanese newspapers in Beijing and in Japan reported that the Americans had stolen the fossils and taken them to the United States.

Two months later, the Japanese said that they had found the Peking Man specimens in Tianjin. Weidenreich's typist was sent to identify them. But when she got off the train in Tianjin, a Japanese stopped her and told her that there had been a mistake.

In November 1945, after the war, a Chinese newspaper reported the missing fossils had been found in Japan. But again they proved to be replicas only.

Professor Pei made further efforts to look for the fossils, but there was no result. The case remains a mystery.