The existence of another species of human, known as Peking Man, had been established. Slowly, more and more evidence came to light. Penny van Oosterzee recreates the fine detail involved in archaeological detective work of this kind. She weaves the story of Davidson Black, his collaborators and successors in and around the history of China's tragic century. She deals with the moral ambiguity of foreign scientists damaging fields and crops and expatriating their plunder.
Nobody knows for sure.
It appears most likely that, having been painstakingly packed into crates and put on a train, The train was halted by Japanese troops, who ransacked the luggage, including perhaps the treasure boxes. As a result, the unassuming-looking fossils would have been scattered and smashed along the railway line, the protective tissue paper, cotton and gauze left blowing in the wind.