Human Fossils Found at Zhoukoudian
Chinese palaeontologists have found human fossils at a suburb in Beijing where the world-renowned Peking Man fossils were unearthed 1929. The find at Zhoukoudian will probably turn out to be a long-lost piece of fossil evidence linking Peking Man and modern man. The fossils were found early June 2003 only 5 kilometres south of where the Peking Man fossils were discovered. A total of 26 species of mammal fossils, in addition to fossils of bones and teeth that were characteristic of an adult human from the stratum in a cave at a hillside. Preliminary analysis suggests the fossils are probably from a Homo sapiens, or a modern human, in anatomical terms. Locals at the Zhoukoudian area reported an accidental discovery of animal fossil fragments in the Tianyuan Cave  to the scene to undertake an initial investigation, but it was not until June 16, 2003 when a large-scale excavation was carried out after a government licence was obtained in May 2003. An accurate age of the fossils has not yet been confirmed, but isotope dating found they were probably from a group of cave men living 18,000 years ago. The discovery of the fossils is important in that they may serve as the only fossils of that age found in the Zhoukoudian area that are still available today. Fossils of a similar age were found around Zhoukoudian but were lost during the War of Resistance Against Japan. No new fossils of that age had been uncovered until 2003. This discovery may fill the blank left by that loss. The mammal fossils unearthed together with the human fossils have been dated back 25,000 years, indicating that they may even have been around before cave men. Unfortunately, no fossil craniums have been found, which has added to the difficulty of accurate dating.