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Peking Man

Part of Anne and Bernard Spitzer Hall of Human Origins.

Homo-erectus-Peking-Man_smalldynamiclead

During excavations near Peking (Beijing), China, between 1929 and 1937, researchers discovered several partial skulls of the species Homo erectus. These hominids lived around 400,000 years ago and came to be known as Peking Man.

The first complete skullcap discovered at the Peking Man site was unearthed by a Chinese team in a candlelit pit in 1929. The sloping forehead and thick brow ridge in front and protruding occipital torus in back are typical Homo erectus features.