China Politics | CPC News| Foreign Affairs | World | Opinion| Business | China Military | Society | Life & Culture | Travel | Sports | Science | Education | Photo | Tibet Online | Special Coverage

English >> Travel

Top 10 World Heritage in China (5)

China.org.cn)  09:27, June 26, 2013  

Zhoukoudian, Home of Peking Man (China.org.cn)

5. Zhoukoudian, Home of Peking Man

In December 1929, a Chinese paleoanthropologist named Pei Wenzhong discovered a complete skull of "Peking Man" on Dragon Bone Hill northwest of Zhoukoudian, in the southwest suburbs of Beijing. Later, archaeologists unearthed 40-odd individually fossilized skeletons of "Peking Man", male, female, old and young, all at the same site. Zhoukoudian, therefore, became the most common site for human remains with the most abundant fossils in the world from the same period. The discovery pushed the history of Beijing's civilization back to some 600,000 years. These fossilized remains prove that "Peking Man" was primitive man in an evolutionary process from ancient ape to modern man, and is the ancestor of the Chinese nation.

Inside the 140-meter-long Peking Man Cave, stratum accumulation was of a depth of 40 meters. The inhabitants spanning more than 300,000 years left their remains, stone tools and traces of fire here. On Dragon Bone Hill were also found fossilized remains of Upper Cave Man, who lived 18,000 years ago, as well as sites of New Cave Man, who lived between Peking Man and Upper Cave Man.

In 1987, the Zhoukoudian caves were listed as one of the world cultural heritage sites.

【1】 【2】 【3】 【4】 【5】 【6】 【7】 【8】 【9】 【10】


Hot News We Recommend
* Top 10 institutions worldwide in scientific publishing * Tang Dynasty tombs found in southwest Beijing
* Top 10 highest-paid athletes in the world 2013 * Bachelors' blues: Expensive brides
* Sand sculptures delight visitors at Qinghai Lake * Top 10 well-paid jobs for Chinese graduates 2013
* A 70-year-old lady's hanging garden * When will Chinese football offer us some hope?
* Top 10 most employable majors in China 2013 * Mao's rice bowls auction breaks record

(Editor:DuMingming、Zhang Qian)

Photos

Leave your comment

Name:  

Selection for you