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China News Service, Beijing, February 1st: Question: What secrets about the origin of humankind can be gleaned from the Zhoukoudian site?
——Exclusive interview with Guo Jingning, Director of the Beijing Institute of Archeology
China News Service reporter Du Yan Xu Jing
The Zhoukoudian site, located in Fangshan District, Beijing, is world-famous for its outstanding value in the trinity of "geological evolution, biological evolution, and human origin," and it hides the mysteries of human evolution. From Homo erectus "Peking Man" 500,000 years ago, early Homo sapiens "Xindong Man" 200,000 years ago to 100,000 years ago, and late Homo sapiens "Singding Cave Man" 30,000 years ago to 10,000 years ago, The Zhoukoudian site is one of the most important Paleolithic sites in China and even the world. It is also an ancient human site with the richest and most representative archaeological results of the same period, providing strong evidence for the theory of human evolution.
China News Service's "East-West Question" recently conducted an exclusive interview with Guo Jingning, director of the Beijing Institute of Archeology, and talked about how Chinese and foreign scholars have explored the life proposition of "where do we come from" at this site for more than a hundred years.
Video: [East-West Question] Guo Jingning: What secrets about the origin of humankind can be gleaned from the Zhoukoudian site?
Source: China News Network
The interview transcript is summarized as follows:
Reporter from China News Service: How were the Zhoukoudian ruins excavated? What is its significance to China and the world?
Guo Jingning:
"Where do we come from?" is one of the questions that humans have been thinking about since ancient times. Homo erectus, about 1.8 million years old, was discovered in South and East Africa. In China, the "Yuanmou Man" who dates back to about 1.7 million years ago; the "Lantian Man" who dates back to about 1.63 million years ago; and the "Yunxian Man" who dates back to about 1 million years ago... These archaeological discoveries have proved that China Millions of years of human history.
China is one of the regions with the richest ancient human resources in the world. Since the discovery of the first skull fossil of "Peking Man" at the Zhoukoudian site in 1929, prehistoric human fossils have been discovered at more than 70 sites in China.
The most famous site of Zhoukoudian, located in the southwest of Beijing, is the first site, the "Peking Man" site. This place was first discovered by Swedish geologist Johan Gunnar Andersson in 1921. Since then, many famous Chinese and foreign scholars have conducted archaeological excavations here.
In June 2023, the audience visited the restored statue of "Peking Man" at the "Zhoukoudian Peking Man Site Museum" in Fangshan District, Beijing. Photo by Jia Tianyong
Speaking of Andersen, he came to China in 1914 and worked in China for more than ten years. As early as 1918, Andersen, who served as the mining policy adviser to the Chinese government at that time, went to Zhoukoudian for inspection and collected a batch of mammal fossils from the Quaternary accumulations in Jigu Mountain (Site 6).
In 1921, Andersen came to Zhoukoudian again and conducted an investigation together with the Austrian paleontologist Otto Zdansky, and unearthed the first tooth fossil of "Peking Man" in Longgu Mountain (site 1). In 1923, Shidansky excavated Longgu Mountain again and found an ancient human molar fossil.
Two tooth fossils shocked the academic world. They were the earliest ancient human fossils discovered in China and even on the Asian continent at that time. Since then, this ancient human species that shocked the world has been called "Peking Man".
In December 1929, Pei Wenzhong, a young Chinese archaeologist at the time, was responsible for the excavation of the Zhoukoudian site and discovered the first skull fossil of "Peking Man", which caused a sensation in the world. Unfortunately, this precious original specimen of skull fossil was lost during the Anti-Japanese War and its whereabouts are still unknown. Fortunately, Pei Wenzhong, who was in his sixties, re-excavated the Zhoukoudian site in 1966 and discovered two new skull fossils of "Peking Man". After comparison, it was found that they could be combined with the lost skull fossils. Together. This has become the only known original specimen of "Peking Man" skull fossil in existence.
In March 1961, the Zhoukoudian site was announced as one of the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units. In December 1987, the Zhoukoudian site was rated as a World Cultural Heritage by the World Heritage Committee and included in the World Heritage List by UNESCO.
In June 2023, the audience visited the skull model at the "Zhoukoudian Peking Man Site Museum" in Fangshan District, Beijing. Photo by Jia Tianyong
Reporter from China News Service: How can the excavation of the Zhoukoudian site help humans gradually understand their ancestors?
Guo Jingning:
The Zhoukoudian site is located at the junction of the North China Plain and the Yanshan Mountains. It has ample water sources, natural caves, and a suitable climate environment, providing an ideal habitat for ancient humans.
The archaeological discovery of "Peking Man" is a milestone in the history of Chinese archaeology.
On the one hand, at the Zhoukoudian site, ancient human fossils were systematically excavated in China for the first time. We can see that there is a clear accumulation of strata at the first site of the Zhoukoudian site. The distance between the layers is less than two meters. Each layer represents a completely different geological age, with tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years between them; there are Clear fossils of symbiotic animals and life remains, including traces of fire use, living environment, etc. These are far incomparable to many other scattered fossil sites.
For more than a hundred years, the Zhoukoudian site has excavated "Peking Man" (Homo erectus) from 700,000 to 500,000 years ago; "Xindong Man" (early Homo sapiens) from about 100,000 years ago; 42,000 years ago The "Tianyuan Cave Man" (late Homo sapiens) lived from 38,000 to 38,000 years ago; the "Stop Cave Man" (late Homo sapiens) lived from 34,000 to 27,000 years ago.
Just in July 2023, the Chinese scientific research team used a series of new technologies such as CT scanning and 3D reconstruction to identify a human parietal bone from the mammal fossil at the 15th location of the site. This is the first Pleistocene human fossil discovered at the Zhoukoudian site in 50 years, following the discovery of a tooth fossil at Site 4 in 1973. This discovery provides extremely important and critical specimen material for exploring the evolutionary model of ancient Chinese humans.
In July 2023, the Chinese Academy of Sciences announced that a scientific research team from the Academy's Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology) identified a human parietal bone from the mammalian fossils at Site 15 of the Zhoukoudian Peking Man Site. Photo courtesy of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
From Homo erectus to Homo sapiens, the excavation of the Zhoukoudian site presents a complete sequence of human evolution and development. From the 1920s to the present, the site has undergone several large-scale archaeological excavations, and 27 locations have been found to contain paleontological fossils or ancient human fossils. Tens of thousands of stone products, animal fossils and more than 50 individuals have been unearthed. Homo erectus skeleton fossil. The richness of materials and the density of discovery sites are rare in the world. The Zhoukoudian site is a pearl in the world's treasure trove of ancient human research.
On the other hand, the Zhoukoudian archaeological discovery is equivalent to identifying a "reference object" and establishing a chain of ancient human specimens to provide reference for other areas.
Around the world, scholars from various countries are actively exploring the life proposition of "where do we come from?" For example, "Javanese" fossils were first discovered in the 19th century. However, due to the constraints of traditional concepts and the lack of symbiosis of cultural relics, it was not until the discovery of "Peking Man" fossils at the Zhoukoudian site at the same stage that "Javanese Man" was recognized by the scientific community.
In the eyes of Chinese and foreign scholars, the Zhoukoudian site is a world-renowned academic holy land. It is a world-famous treasure house of human fossils and a base for comprehensive multi-disciplinary research in paleoanthropology, archaeology, paleontology, stratigraphy, and environmental studies. Scholars from all over the world pay great attention to Zhoukoudian. Archaeological exploration of ancient humans has never stopped, allowing humans to continuously deepen their understanding of their ancestors.
In May 2023, the Peking Man Site Museum in Zhoukoudian, Fangshan District, Beijing, displays the archaeological site of the Peking Man Site on a sand table. Photo by Chen Xiaodong
China News Service reporter: As the capital of China, how does Beijing archeology extend the historical axis? What discoveries and research can reveal the history of Chinese civilization?
Guo Jingning:
As one of the earliest human settlements and an ancient capital of civilization, Beijing has a long history and rich heritage. It can be said that archaeological discoveries over the past century have greatly extended Beijing’s historical main line in the timeline of Chinese civilization, enhanced Beijing’s status in the development coordinates of Chinese civilization, and explained Beijing’s role in the pluralistic unity of Chinese civilization.
The discovery of "Peking Man" at the Zhoukoudian site is the earliest beginning of Beijing's history. In the following more than a hundred years, the earliest pottery in Beijing and the remains of early cultivated millet and broomcorn millet were discovered at the Donghulin site in the early Neolithic Age; the Changping Zhangying site, Fengtai Xingong site, Pinggu Liujiahe tomb in the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, and the tombs of Liujiahe in Pinggu, evidenced the three thousand years of Beijing The Liulihe ruins of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the history of city construction, etc., jointly construct the historical context of Beijing’s pre-Qin period. Zhongdu of Jin Dynasty, Dadu of Yuan Dynasty, Beijing City of Ming and Qing Dynasties... The important archaeological discoveries in Beijing area from the Paleolithic Age to various historical periods can be said to have a long pedigree.
It is not difficult to see that Beijing has a long and complete historical chain from the initial discovery of human activities to the late feudal society. It is rare in other cities in the country and also rare in the capitals of the world. It can be said that Beijing is one of the earliest capitals to enter human society and one of the capitals with the longest history of human activities in the world. Its history and culture are also witnesses of the long history of Chinese civilization.
Since 1921, Beijing has never stopped its archaeological exploration of ancient humans at the Zhoukoudian site, and its protection of world cultural heritage has never stopped. Today, with the effective protection and scientific utilization of the site, the Zhoukoudian site has become an important base for public science popularization, patriotism education, culture and ecological leisure.
In May 2014, visitors visited the new building of the Beijing Man Site Museum in Zhoukoudian. Photo by Yulong
According to the published "Zhoukoudian Site Protection Plan (2021-2035)", the historical information and full value of the site must be protected and continued in accordance with the principle of "minimal intervention"; in accordance with the principle of "co-creation", the site must serve the public and display the site Protect and utilize the vision and achievements in archaeological research, cultural relic protection, science popularization, ecological governance, urban and rural development, etc. to build public cultural venues that serve the public. At the same time, through the formulation of a comprehensive plan for site protection and development, it guides the construction of the International Paleoanthropology Research Center, the National Archaeological Site Park, etc.
As an archaeologist, I believe that, on the one hand, we must continue to strengthen the research on cultural relics in order to tell the stories behind the cultural relics; we must display the cultural relics well so that the public can understand the value and connotation of the cultural relics; on the other hand, we must strengthen Sino-foreign cooperation, Strengthen joint research between Beijing and global universities and scientific research units, work together to produce major archaeological results, promote cultural exchanges and mutual learning between Chinese and foreign civilizations, and continuously enrich and deepen our understanding of our ancestors and history. (over)
Interviewee profile:
Guo Jingning, Director of the Beijing Institute of Archeology
Guo Jingning is currently the president and research librarian of the Beijing Institute of Archaeology. He has presided over or participated in the Mentougou East Hulin, Fangshan Liuli River, Yanqing Dazhuang Ke Liao Dynasty Mining and Metallurgical Site Group, Dongcheng Yuhe and the Beijing Section of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, the Beijing Section of the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway, Archaeological work on many ancient sites and major projects such as the Beijing Sub-Center. Published 20 monographs of various types, including "Archaeology of Beijing", "History of Archeology of Contemporary Beijing", and "Traversing the Imperial City".