page_title: Zhoukoudian
section_title: Peking Man Site
hierarchical_section_title: Zhoukoudian / Excavation sites / Peking Man Site
caption_attribution_description: Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian, China
context_page_description: Zhoukoudian Peking Man Site, also romanized as Choukoutien, is a cave system in suburban Fangshan District, Beijing. It has yielded many archaeological discoveries, including one of the first specimens of Homo erectus, dubbed Peking Man, and a fine assemblage of bones of the gigantic hyena Pachycrocuta brevirostris.
  Due to differing interpretations of the evidence, proposed dates for when Peking Man inhabited this site vary greatly, with: 700,000-200,000 years ago, 670,000-470,000 years ago and no earlier than 530,000 years ago.
  The Peking Man Site was first discovered by Johan Gunnar Andersson in 1921 and was first excavated by Otto Zdansky in 1921 and 1923 unearthing two human teeth. These were later identified by Davidson Black as belonging to a previously unknown species and extensive excavations followed. Fissures in the limestone containing middle Pleistocene deposits have yielded the remains of about 45 individuals as well as animal remains and stone flake and chopping tools.
  The oldest animal remains date from as early as 690,000 years ago and tools from 670,000 years ago while another authority dates the tools found from no earlier than 530,000 years ago.
context_section_description: Locality 1, also known as Peking Man Site, was the first to be discovered in 1921 under the direction of local quarry men. The site was originally a natural limestone cave although the roof had long since collapsed spreading a layer of breccia and rubble across the top of the deposits. Early excavations in 1921 and 1923 revealed evidence of human habitation from 500,000 to 200,000 years ago. The cave was excavated from 1927-37 yielding 200 human fossils (from 40 individuals) identified as Homo erectus, more than 10,000 pieces of stoneware, several cinder layers indicating fire use in early man, as well as animal fossils from 200 separate species. Tragically the bulk of this material was lost in 1941 during the Japanese Occupation and has never been recovered. Excavations recommenced in 1949 and continued to yield fossils and artefacts making this site one of the most fruitful sources of material from the Middle Pleistocene era.
  A total of 13 layers have been excavated at the site to a depth of nearly 40 m.
  Layers below this have been shown by test-pit drilling to not contain fossils or stoneware and have never been excavated.
caption: Peking Man Site
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