Chinese archaeologist Jia Lanpo said: The discovery of Zhoukoudian (a Beijinger) is of great significance. In the past, there was not much material found, and it was not until the Beijingers discovered that it was recognized that man evolved from apes. Because this discovery includes a lot of material, very complete. Such as the discovery of human fossils, the discovery of cultural relics such as stone tools, bone tools, and traces of the use of fire...
Academician Jia Lanpo
Since ancient times, the sages of mankind have been constantly asking a question: Where is the source of the endless river of human life? Where will it go?
With this huge question mark hanging, human beings have begun an eternal search while constantly moving forward.
From the East to the West, one question after another about the origin of human beings themselves has been circulated. The ancestors of mankind, on the other hand, have always been looming at that far end.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > where humans actually came from</h1>
In 1929, the world set its sights on a small mountain village called Zhoukoudian, 50 kilometers southwest of Beijing.
This year, fossils of about half a million-year-old paleoanthropologists were found here, and this ancient human was later named "Peking Man". Half a million years of human evolution are revealed.
Ruins of Zhoukoudian
At that time, the people in Beijing did not know anything about the Zhoukoudian where ancient humans survived half a million years ago. However, the appearance of ancient human fossils is destined to make this unnoticed small mountain village outside Beijing no longer be as quiet as in the past.
For a long time, the descendants of mankind have been arguing over whether man was created by God or not. In the 19th century, the British scholar Darwin first proposed the theory of biological evolution.
One is looking forward to a conclusive proof.
In 1891, the Dutchman Dubwa discovered a Javanese skull. In the absence of circumstantial evidence, even he soon declared that the Javanese belonged to an unknown type of ape and had nothing to do with the distribution of humans.
In 1903, a German doctor named Habel brought back a box of medicinal herbs from Zhoukoudian, which the locals called "keel". Vertebrate paleozoologists have determined that the keel is actually a precious animal fossil.
In 1921, Swedish geologist Anderson and the young Austrian Stensky first began excavations in Zhoukoudian, and soon found two teeth, as well as some white quartz fragments.
In the cave, Anderson gently tapped on the rock wall and said to Stensky, "I have a hunch that the ancestors of mankind are lying beside us, and now the only problem is to find it." ”
Six years later, a joint Chinese and foreign archaeological team entered Zhoukoudian, and large-scale excavations began. The arrival of that extraordinary moment is unforgettable.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > discovery that shocked the world</h1>
At four o'clock in the afternoon of December 2, 1929, the sun set on the west mountain, and in the quiet mountain, only the sound of tapping was heard far away in the cold wind. The Chinese paleoanthropologist Pei Wenzhong, by the glimmer of a candle, first picked up a fossil human skull from half a million years ago.
Pei Wenzhong with fossil skulls
This discovery shocked the whole world.
Unfortunately, in World War II, all the fossils of ancient human skulls in Zhoukoudian were lost and their whereabouts are still unknown.
According to scientific determinations, Pei Wenzhong's first discovery of the ancient human skull in 1929 was that of a young boy.
In 1936, Chinese paleoanthropologist Jia Lanpo found three fossils of ancient human skulls in the same formation in Zhoukoudian, they were two adult males and an adult female.
The scene when the skull of the third "Peking man" was discovered
Paleoanthropologists estimate that 68 percent of the ape-men living in Zhoukoudian did not live to be 14 years old half a year ago.
In 1999, the genetic research results of Chinese scientists showed that in fact, modern Asians did not have a direct genetic relationship with the ancient humans of Zhoukoudian half a million years ago. That is to say, so far, we know nothing about the whereabouts of Asian ancient humans, including Zhoukoudian ancient humans, 100,000 years ago.
The original components of the genes inherited by modern Asians are the same as those of Africans, i.e. modern Asians may have originated in Africa. About 100,000 years ago, African humans entered Asia and developed into modern humans.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > traces of human evolution</h1>
In human history, a fortuitous discovery could unexpectedly change the fate of mankind.
Today, in the Zhoukoudian Ape Man Cave, you can still see the thick layer of ashes left by the fire half a million years ago. The study believes that being able to preserve tinder is an important technology that has been mastered by the ancient humans of Zhoukoudian. Flames slowly rise, illuminating the dark caverns.
Studies have shown that the upper limbs of ancient humans in Zhoukoudian have evolved significantly. Anthropologists believe that this was a crucial step in the evolution from ape to man, where humans began to walk upright and were able to obtain food by hand.
About 230,000 years ago, the cave inhabited by ancient humans in Zhoukoudian began to collapse due to rain erosion and geological action, and the ancient humans of Zhoukoudian disappeared. Traces of their lives were buried in the ground, and half a million years had condensed into fossils.
In World War II, all the fossil skulls of ancient humans in Zhoukoudian were missing, which is one of the biggest mysteries of the 20th century. Now, in the Zhoukoudian Site Museum, there is only one authentic fossil skull of an ancient human. Because it is so precious, almost no one can easily see it.
In 1933, fossils of cave people on the top of the mountain were also found in Zhoukoudian. They lived about eighteen thousand years ago, in the late Paleolithic period.
Cave people at the top of the mountain will use animal fur to sew clothes for themselves. For the first time, the fine bone was ground into a bone needle. The living have learned to use a funeral to say goodbye to the deceased.
From half a million years ago to 18,000 years ago, human life has always been going on. Half a million years from now, the future of humanity is unimaginable to us today.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > forever remembered</h1>
Pei Wenzhong, the first to find ancient human fossils in Zhoukoudian, his tomb is on the hillside of Zhoukoudian.
The American geologist Greep, who named the Zhoukoudian ancient humans "Peking man", lay quietly on the shore of the unnamed lake of Peking University.
History remembers them.
Humanity has gone through vicissitudes.
For a smile, a hug, or even an ordinary greeting, it has taken half a million years for humanity.