Eightieth year of Peking Man: Current status of Peking Man and the Zhoukoudian site

Qian Wang; Li Sun

doi:10.18778/1898-6773.63.02

Authors

Qian Wang Department of Anatomical Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, 7 York Rd., Parktown 2193, South Africa
Li Sun Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 643, 100044 Beijing, China

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/1898-6773.63.02

Keywords:

Peking Man, Zhoukoudian, Homo erectus, „Sinanthropus”

Abstract

The current status of and recent developments around Peking Man and Zhoukoudian are reviewed. The taxonomic status, phylogenetic position, cultural attributes and taphonomy of Peking Man are in question, and a new chronological frame for the Zhoukoudian site is emerging. Post-war excavation, current Peking Man specimens, the research unit, personalities, commemoration, and classic books are introduced, with special reference to the search for the long-missing Peking Man fossils.

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