?Peking Man Fossil range: Pleistocene
Zhoukoudian Peking Man Site - the Museum (taken in July 2004). At the centre: what Peking Man looked like.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Subphylum: Vertebrata Class: Mammalia Order: Primates Family: Hominidae Genus: Homo Species: H. erectus Subspecies: H. e. pekinensis
Trinomial name
Homo erectus pekinensis (Black, 1927)

Peking Man (sometimes now called Beijing Man), also called Sinanthropus pekinensis (currently Homo erectus pekinensis), is an example of Homo erectus. The remains were first discovered in 1923-27 during excavations at Zhoukoudian (Choukoutien) near Beijing (Peking), China. The finds have been dated from roughly 250,000-400,000 years ago in the Pleistocene. The Pleistocene epoch (IPA: ) is part of the geologic timescale. ... Zhoukoudian Site - Museum. ... Zhoukoudian Peking Man Site - the Caves (taken in July 2004) Zhoukoudian or Choukoutien (周口店) is a cave system near Beijing in China. ... 2004 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December See also: July 2004 in sports Deaths in July • 31 David B. Haight • 29 Francis Crick • 29 Nafisa Joseph • 23 Joe Cahill • 23 Mehmood • 23 Illinois Jacquet • 23 Carlos Paredes... Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms. ... Phyla Subregnum Parazoa Porifera (sponges) Subregnum Agnotozoa Placozoa (trichoplax) Orthonectida (orthonectids) Rhombozoa (dicyemids) Subregnum Eumetazoa Radiata (unranked) (radial symmetry) Ctenophora (comb jellies) Cnidaria (coral, jellyfish, anemones) Bilateria (unranked) (bilateral symmetry) Acoelomorpha (basal) Myxozoa (slime animals) Superphylum Deuterostomia (blastopore becomes anus) Chordata (vertebrates, etc. ... Typical Classes Subphylum Urochordata - Tunicates Ascidiacea Thaliacea Larvacea Subphylum Cephalochordata - Lancelets Subphylum Myxini - Hagfishes Subphylum Vertebrata - Vertebrates Petromyzontida - Lampreys Placodermi (extinct) Chondrichthyes - Cartilaginous fishes Acanthodii (extinct) Actinopterygii - Ray-finned fishes Actinistia - Coelacanths Dipnoi - Lungfishes Amphibia - Amphibians Reptilia - Reptiles Aves - Birds Mammalia - Mammals Chordates (phylum Chordata) include the vertebrates, together with... Typical classes Petromyzontidae (lampreys) Placodermi - extinct Chondrichthyes (cartilaginous fish) Acanthodii - extinct Actinopterygii (ray-finned fish) Actinistia (coelacanths) Dipnoi (lungfish) Amphibia (amphibians) Reptilia (reptiles) Aves (birds) Mammalia (mammals) Vertebrata is a subphylum of chordates, specifically, those with backbones or spinal columns. ... Orders Multituberculata (extinct) Palaeoryctoides (extinct) Triconodonta (extinct) Subclass Australosphenida Ausktribosphenida Monotremata Subclass Eutheria (excludes extinct ancestors) Afrosoricida Anagaloidea (extinct) Arctostylopida (extinct) Artiodactyla Carnivora Cetacea Chiroptera Cimolesta (extinct) Cingulata Creodonta (extinct) Condylarthra (extinct) Dermoptera Desmostylia (extinct) Dinocerata (extinct) Embrithopoda (extinct) Hyracoidea Insectivora Lagomorpha Leptictida (extinct) Litopterna (extinct) Macroscelidea Mesonychia (extinct) Notoungulata... For the ecclesiastical use of this term, see primate (religion) Families 13, See classification A primate is any member of the biological order Primates, the group that contains all lemurs, monkeys, and apes, including humans. ... Genera The hominids are the members of the biological family Hominidae (the great apes), which includes humans, chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans. ... Species Homo sapiens sapiens See text for extinct species. ... Binomial name †Homo erectus (Dubois, 1892) Synonyms † Pithecanthropus erectus † Sinanthropus pekinensis † Javanthropus soloensis † Meganthropus paleojavanicus Homo erectus (Upright Man) is an extinct species of genus Homo. ... Trinomial nomenclature is a taxonomic naming system that extends the standard system of binomial nomenclature by adding a third taxon. ... Davidson Black Dr. Davidson Black (1884 – 1934) was a Canadian paleoanthropologist, best known for his discovery of Sinanthropus pekinensis (now Homo erectus pekinensis). ... Binomial name †Homo erectus (Dubois, 1892) Synonyms † Pithecanthropus erectus † Sinanthropus pekinensis † Javanthropus soloensis † Meganthropus paleojavanicus Homo erectus (Upright Man) is an extinct species of genus Homo. ... 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Zhoukoudian Peking Man Site - the Caves (taken in July 2004) Zhoukoudian or Choukoutien (周口店) is a cave system near Beijing in China. ... Beijing [English Pronunciation] (Chinese: 北京 [Chinese Pronunciation]; Pinyin: BÄ›ijÄ«ng; IPA: ), a city in northern China, is the capital of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC). ... The Pleistocene epoch (IPA: ) is part of the geologic timescale. ...

Original fossils

Peking Man skull

First studies began at Zhoukoudian in 1921 with an investigation of a number of caves in the limestone there. According to later accounts of Otto Zdansky, who was working for geologist Johan Andersson, a local man lead western archaeologists to what is today known as the Dragon Bone Hill, a place full of fossilized bones. Zdansky began his own excavation and eventually found bones that resembled human molars. In 1926, he took them to the Peking Union Medical College, in Peking, where Canadian anatomist Davidson Black analysed them. He later published his finds in the journal Nature. Image File history File links This work is copyrighted. ... Image File history File links This work is copyrighted. ... 1921 (MCMXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Johan Andersson The famous fisherman from Sweden, Johan has been recognized as one of the ost famous fisherman of the North Sea. ... Molar may refer to: Molar (tooth), the fourth kind of tooth in mammals. ... Peking Union Medical College (中国协和医科大学) is a university in Beijing, China. ... Davidson Black Dr. Davidson Black (1884 – 1934) was a Canadian paleoanthropologist, best known for his discovery of Sinanthropus pekinensis (now Homo erectus pekinensis). ...

The first specimens of Homo erectus had been found in Java in 1891 by Eugene Dubois, with the Java Man initially being named Pithecanthropus erectus but later transferred to the genus Homo. Java (Indonesian, Javanese, and Sundanese: Jawa) is an island of Indonesia, and the site of its capital city, Jakarta. ... 1891 (MDCCCXCI) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Eugene Dubois (January 28, 1858 - December 16, 1940) was a Dutch anthropologist, who earned world-wide fame with the discovery of Homo erectus in Java in 1891. ... Java Man was one of the first specimens of Homo erectus to be discovered. ... Pithecanthropus erectus was the name first given to the Homo erectus specimen, also known as Java Man, by its discoverer Eugene Dubois. ... Species Homo sapiens sapiens See text for extinct species. ...

The Rockefeller Foundation agreed to fund the work at Zhoukoudian. By 1929, Chinese archaeologists Yang Zhongjian and Pei Wenzhong, and later Jia Lanpo, had taken over the excavation. Over the next seven years, they uncovered fossils of more than 40 specimens including 6 nearly complete skullcaps. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and Franz Weidenreich were also involved. The Rockefeller Foundation is a charitable organization based in New York City. ... Yang Zhongjian (C.C. Young) (1897-1979) supervised the collection and research of dinosaurs in China from 1933 into the 1970s. ... A skullcap can be : in anatomy, the top part of the skull as headgear, a type of cap Observant Jewish men wear yarmulkes, small cloth skull-caps Catholic clergy, including The Pope, wear skullcaps known as zucchetti. ... Pierre Teilhard de Chardin Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (IPA: ; May 1, 1881 – April 10, 1955), a Jesuit priest trained as a paleontologist and a philosopher, was present at the discovery of Peking Man. ... Franz Weidenreich (7 June 1873, Edenkoben, Germany- 11 July 1948, New York City U.S.) was a German anatomist and physical anthropologist who studued human evolution. ...

Excavation ended in July 1937 when the Japanese occupied Beijing. Fossils of the Peking Man were placed in the safe at the Cenozoic Laboratory of the Peking Union Medical College. Eventually, in November 1941, secretary Hu Chengzi packed up the fossils so they could be sent to USA for safekeeping until the end of the war. They vanished en route to the port city of Qinghuangdao. They were probably in possession of a group of US marines who the Japanese captured when the war began between Japan and USA. Categories: China geography stubs | Cities in China ...

Various parties have tried to locate the fossils but, so far, without result. In 1972, a US financier Christopher Janus promised a $5,000 (U.S.) reward for the missing skulls; one woman contacted him, asking for $500,000 (U.S.) but she later vanished. Janus was later indicted for embezzlement. In July 2005, the Chinese government founded a committee to find the bones to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the end of World War Two. This article is becoming very long. ...

There are also various theories of what might have happened, including a theory that the bones had sunk with a Japanese ship Awa Maru in 1945.

The Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1987. UNESCO logo UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) is a specialized agency of the United Nations established in 1945. ... A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a specific site (such as a forest, mountain, lake, desert, monument, building, complex, or city) that has been nominated and confirmed for inclusion on the list maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 State... 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Paleontological conclusions

Because all the pre-war findings at Zhoukoudian were lost during transit to the USA, subsequent researchers have had to rely on casts and existing writings from the original discoverers.

Contiguous findings of animal remains and evidence of fire and tool usage, as well as the manufacturing of tools, were used to support H. erectus being the first "faber" or tool-worker. The analysis of the remains of "Peking Man" led to the claim that the Zhoukoudian and Java fossils were examples of the same broad stage of human evolution. This is also the official view of the Chinese Communist Party.

This interpretation was challenged in 1985 by Lewis Binford, who claimed that the Peking Man was a scavenger, not a hunter. The 1998 team of Steve Weirner of the Weizmann Institute of Science concluded that they had not found evidence that the Peking Man had used fire. Lewis Roberts Binford (born 1930) is an American archaeologist, known as the leader of the New Archaeology movement of the 1950s/60s. ... Harvestman eating the tail of a five-lined skink The word scavenger, in zoology, refers to animals that consume already dead organic life-forms. ... It has been suggested that Big-game hunter be merged into this article or section. ... The Koffler accelerator, one of the best-known buildings on campus. ...

Popular culture

The discovery of Peking Man is referred to in the book The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan. The Bonesetters Daughter is Amy Tans fourth novel. ... Amy Tan (Chinese: 譚恩美; pinyin: Tán Ēnměi), an American writer, was born February 19, 1952 in Oakland, California several years after her parents immigrated to the U.S. from China. ...

Peking Man is part of the central plot in the mystery "Sleeping Bones" by Katherine V. Forrest.

A Peking Man fossil is among those which can be found in the Nintendo DS video game Animal Crossing: Wild World. The Nintendo DS ) (sometimes abbreviated NDS or DS, also as iQue DS in China) is a handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo and was released in 2004. ... Namcos Pac-Man was a hit, and became a cultural phenomenon. ...

Peking Man is part of the central plot of Philip K. Dick's "The Crack In Space" Philip Kindred Dick (December 16, 1928 – March 2, 1982) was an American science fiction writer. ...

Peking Man is part of the plot of Clive Cussler's "Flood Tide" Clive Cussler (born July 15, 1931 in Alhambra, California) is an American adventure novelist. ...

Peking Man is the main part of the central plot of Carolyn G. Hart's mystery novel "Skulduggery", set in San Francisco's Chinatown in the early 1980s. Copyright 1984 ISDN 0-7862-2672-2

Sega and Vivarium's "Seaman 2 Peking Genjin no Ikusei Kit" (Peking Man Growth Kit) for the PlayStation 2 will let players interact with a 20 centimeter tall Peking Man clone.

References

• Jake Hooker - The Search for the Peking Man (Archaeology magazine March/April 2006)