Peking man site excavated again after 72 years

Major events

In March 1918, Swedish geologist Johan Gunnar Andersson, a mining policy advisor to the then Chinese Beiyang government discovered two types of rodent fossils and one type of carnivorous fossil.

In 1923, an Austrian paleontologist discovered two teeth.

In 1927, the National Geological Survey of China along with Peking Union Medical College carried out a large-scale excavation at the Peking man site, with financial support of 24,000 USD from the Rockefeller Foundation.

On December 2, 1929, paleoanthropologist Pei Wenzhong excavated the first intact skull cap of Peking man.

In 1931, a worn mandible of adult Peking man was unearthed.

In 1937, the excavation was suspended because of the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, marking the start of the Japanese invasion.

In 1941, a heartbreaking incident occurred. All fossils excavated during the 1920s and 1930s were lost during the Pacific War. Today there is still no trace of these fossils.

In 1949, Peking was liberated and the excavation recommenced.

In 1951, a small number of fossils and stone tools were unearthed, a dozen of which have been preserved to this day.

In the first half of 1966, a frontal bone fragment, a right parietal bone fragment and a lower right first premolar tooth of Peking man were discovered by a group led by Pei Wenzhong.

From 1978 to 1983, the IVPP and CAS continued the excavation at the "ape man cave” and unearthed some mammal fossils.

In June 2003, the IVPP unearthed some fossils in its excavation, including mandible fossils of primitive human beings.

Translated by LOTO