Peking Man SiteⅡ

An important Paleolithic site, this site was first excavated in 1927, in a cave on Dragon Bone Hill at Zhoukoudian, southwest of Beijing. In December 1929, under the leadership of Chinese anthropologist Pei Wenzhong, a team from the Peking Institute of Geology excavated the first skull fossil of Peking Man. It was identified as being at least 690,000 years old. The two human-like teeth found before were not enough to convince everyone that they belong to Peking Man, but the skullcap gives more anatomical proof and was much more convincing.

In the following excavations, the most fruitful year was in 1936, three complete skullcaps were unearthed. In 1966, under the charge of Pei Wenzhong, a frontal, an occipital, and a tooth were found. A complete skullcap was reassembled with these newly unearthed skull fossils and the temporal bones excavated respectively in 1934 and 1936. They belong to the same individual. This is so far the only original specimen of the skullcap of Peking Man.