Beijing - Excavations of Peking Man

The prehistoric village near Zhoukoudian, situated 43km/27mi southwest of Beijing, has attracted interest from archaeologists all over the world. Extensive finds prove that hominids settled here about 500,000 years ago. Even before this was discovered, laborers occasionally found fossils in chalk quarries on the Dragon Bone Mountain (Longgushan); they thought the finds were dragon bones, hence the mountain's name.

Since the first complete preserved skull of the Peking man (Homo erectus pekinensis) was discovered, finds of equal interest were made in subsequent years: human thigh bones, collar bones, shin bones, skull and teeth, also ashes, stones and bones showing clear signs of burning, suggesting that Peking man knew how to make