 Zhoukoudian or Choukoutien is a cave system near Beijing
in China. 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.
The Peking Man lived in this cave approximately 200,000
to 500,000 years ago.
The Peking Man Site was 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 40
individuals as well as animal remains and stone flake
and chopping tools. The oldest are some 500,000 years
old, contemporary with the Mindel or Anglian glaciation.
During the Upper Palaeolithic, the site was re-occupied
and remains of Homo sapiens and its stone and bone tools
have also been recovered from the Upper Cave.
The crater Choukoutien on asteroid 243 Ida was named
after the place. |
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