Zhoukoudian

Discovery

Swedish geologist Johan Gunnar Andersson first started his explorations of the region in 1918 at an area called Chicken-bone Hill by locals who had misidentified the rodent fossils that were found in abundance there, but it was not until 1921 that he and American palaeontologist Walter W. Granger were led to the site known as Dragon Bone Hill by local quarry men. Noticing some white quartz that was foreign to the area he immediately realised that this would be a good place to search for the remains of primitive man.

Excavations were undertaken by Andersson's assistant Austrian palaeontologist Otto Zdansky in 1921 and 1923 unearthing a great deal of material that was sent back to Uppsala University in Sweden for further analysis. In 1926 Anderson announced the discovery of two human molars amongst this material and the following year Zdansky published his finding cautiously identifying the teeth as ?Homo sp.

Canis c.f. variabilis, commonly known as the Zhoukoudian wolf, were found at the Zhoukoudian cave system and archaeological site in 1934 and named by its discoverer, Pei Wenzhong.

Zhoukoudian Project

Canadian paleoanthropologist Davidson Black, who was working for the Peking Union Medical College at the time, was excited by Andersson and Zdansky's find and applied to the Rockefeller Foundation for funding to undertake a systematic excavation of the site. Funding was granted and the Zhoukoudian Project commenced excavations in 1927 under the supervision of Chinese archaeologist Li Jie.

That fall, a tooth was unearthed by Swedish paleontologist Anders Birger Bohlin for which Black proposed belonged a new species named Sinanthropus pekinensis. The following year Black's excavations uncovered more fossils of his new species including teeth, a substantial part of a juvenile's jaw and an adult jaw complete with three teeth. These finds allowed Black to secure an extra $80,000 grant from the Foundation which he used to establish a research laboratory.

Cenozoic Research Laboratory

The Cenozoic Research Laboratory of the Geological Survey of China was established at the Peking Union Medical College in 1928 with the assistance of Chinese geologists Ding Wenjiang and Weng Wenhao for the research and appraisal of the fossils unearthed. Black stayed on at the Laboratory as honorary director while excavations continued at the site under Chinese paleontologist Yang Zhongjian, anthropologists Pei Wenzhong and Jia Lanpo.

Conditions at the site were primitive, with scientists having to ride out to the excavation on mules and staying at caravansaries along the way. When the first skullcap was unearthed at the site in 1929, it was done by Pei, working in a 40-meter crevasse in frigid weather with a hammer in one hand and a candle in the other. A second skullcap is discovered close to the first in 1930 and by 1932 nearly 100 workers were deployed at the site each day.

Despite the conditions at the site eminent researchers continued to visit. French palaeontologist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin had been a regular visitor to the site since 1926. French archaeologist Henri Breuil visited in 1931 and confirmed the presence of stone tools. That same year evidence of the use of fire at the cave was accepted.

The workaholic Black died one night at his office in 1934, with one of the skullcaps unearthed at the site on his desk. German Jewish anthropologist Franz Weidenreich replaced him as honorary director of the Laboratory and excavations continued uncovering a further three skullcaps in 1936.

Altogether excavations uncovered 200 human fossils from more than 40 individuals including 5 nearly complete skullcaps before they were brought to a halt in 1937 by the Japanese invasion of China. Reports of Japanese atrocities include the torture and murder of workers at the site, with three bayoneted to death and a fourth forced to pull a rickshaw until dying of starvation.

In 1941 the bulk of the finds were lost, never to be recovered, while being transported to safety. Fortunately, Weidenreich had made copies of the fossils to preserve their physical characteristics.

Post War Excavations

Excavation work was recommenced in 1949 unearthing new Peking Man fossils including 5 teeth and fragments of thigh and shin bone. The following year a third premolar was discovered in the material sent back to Uppsala by Zdansky in 1921 and 1923.

The Peking Man Site is designated type section of cave deposits of Middle Pleistocene in North China by the Annual Congress of the National Committee of Stratigraphy of China 1959 and a mandible fragment is unearthed.

Excavations led by Pei in 1966 unearthed a premolar and two pieces of skull fragment, these were discovered to match fragments retained from previous excavations in 1934 and 1936, and the only extant example of a nearly complete skullcap was pieced together.

Excavations at Locality 4 in Zhoukoudian, from 1972–73, unearth a Homo sapiens premolar.

Modern scientific dating techniques confirm that the site was occupied between 500,000 and 230,000 years ago.

Peking Man Site

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.

Upper Cave

Situated on the upper part of Dragon Bone Hill this cave was discovered in 1930 and excavated from 1933–34 during which time the roof and north facing opening were removed. Excavations found evidence of human habitation in the cave dating back to 10,000 to 20,000 years ago. The cave was divided into an upper level living quarters and a lower level burial ground, while a small recess on the lower level acted as a natural animal trap. Finds unearthed included three human skulls and other remains from at least eight individuals identified as Archaic Homo sapiens, tools and ornaments made from stone and bone, and numerous animal bones including complete skeletons of large mammals caught in the lower level trap. Also white powder sprinkled around the remains on the lower level indicates the inhabitants practiced burial rites.

Other Localities

More than 20 fossil bearing localities have been excavated in Zhoukoudian to date.