Peking
Man site (Zhoukoudian) is 48 kilometers southwest of downtown
Beijing near Longgushan (dragon skeleton mountain). Many artifacts
related to Peking Man and Upper Cave Man (10 to 20 thousand
years ago) have been found on the mountain since 1929.
In
1973, in the southeast corner of Longgushan, another site
of ancient man was discovered. Scientists have named the ancient
men who once lived at the site "New Cave Man". The
term comes from the fact that ancient men are supposed to
have lived in the period between Peking Man and Upper Cave
Man.
The
discoveries at Zhoukoudian are of great significance, for
the sites date the cultural history of Beijing back to 600,000
years ago. It is could be considered one of the birthplaces
of world civilization, so the people of Beijing are very proud
of it. Zhoukoudian has become a scientific research base for
the study of anthropology and has been named a key cultural
preservation unit by the State Council of the Chinese government. |