Zhoukoudian
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| State Party |  China |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | iii, vi |
| Identification | #449 |
| Regionb | Asia-Pacific |
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Inscription History |
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| Formal Inscription: | 1987 11th Session |
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a Name as officially inscribed on the WH List |
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Zhoukoudian or Choukoutien (Chinese: 周口店; pinyin: Zhōukǒudiàn) is a cave system near Beijing in China. It has yielded many archaeological discoveries, including one of the first specimens of Homo erectus, dubbed Peking Man, and a fine assemblage of bones of the gigantic hyena Pachycrocuta brevirostris.
Fissures in the limestone containing middle Pleistocene deposits have yielded the remains of about 40 individuals as well as animal remains and stone flake and chopping tools. The oldest are some 500,000 years old, contemporary with the Mindel or Anglian glaciation.
During the Upper Palaeolithic, the site was re-occupied and remains of Homo sapiens and its stone and bone tools have also been recovered from the Upper Cave.
As early as the early 1960s, the State Council of the PRC listed it as an important cultural relics location. It has since been improved.
The site is to the southwest of Beijing city, and is accessible via the Jingshi Expressway; it, and Zhoukoudian, are well signposted.
The crater Choukoutien on asteroid 243 Ida was named after the place.
[edit] See Also
- List of fossil sites (with link directory)
- List of hominina (hominid) fossils (with images)
[edit] External links
Building Complex in Wudang Mountains | Capital Cities and Tombs of the Ancient Koguryo Kingdom | Classical Gardens of Suzhou | Dazu Rock Carvings | Ensemble of the Potala Palace, Lhasa | Great Wall | Huanglong | Imperial Palaces in Beijing and Shenyang | Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties | Jiuzhaigou Valley | Lijiang | Longmen Grottoes | Lushan National Park | Historic Centre of Macau | Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor | Mogao Caves | Mount Emei and Leshan Giant Buddha | Mount Huangshan | Mount Qingcheng and Dujiangyan Irrigation System | Mount Taishan | Mount Wuyi | Chengde Mountain Resort and its Outlying Temples, Chengde | Peking Man Site, Zhoukoudian | Ping Yao | Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries | Summer Palace | Temple & Cemetery of Confucius and Kong Family Mansion, Qufu | Temple of Heaven | Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas | Villages in Southern Anhui: Xidi and Hongcun | Wulingyuan | Yinxu | Yungang Grottoes
