Peking Man Site

The Peking Man Site is located at Zhoukoudian Village, 48 kilometers southwest of Beijing. In 1929, archaeologists discovered teeth, bones and a complete skull of an ape-man in a cave of Longgu Mountain, providing concrete evidence for the existence of primitive man in the Beijing area and marking a milestone in the history of paleo-anthropology. In 1987, Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian has been inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

The Peking Man Site yielded nearly 200 pieces of Peking Man fossil (representing around 40 individuals), over 10, 000 stone artifacts, several layers of ash as evidence of fire use, and more than 100 specimen of fossil animal. All these were a testament to the existence of human beings in Peking area some 500,000 years before.

Fossils of primitive men living 20,000 years ago were excavated in 1930 near the top of Dragon Bone Hill, and were named Upper Cave Man fossils. In 1973, fossils of New Cave Man were discovered. New Cave Man is believed to have lived in the period between Peking Man and Upper cave Man, suggesting a continuity of development. In order to well-protect those valuable cultural relics unearthed here. In 1953, the Peking Man Site Museum was built and opened to the public, more than 3, 000 cultural relics displaying in this museum.

Today, the Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian is a research base for the history of mankind, and provides a unique glimpse into the past of human development. The discovery of Peking Man Site provides sufficient and advantageous evidence for human evolutionism.