Composition of Ren Yuan Site in Zhoukoudian

Living in a reinforced jungle, we are in a hurry all day. As modern people, how did we evolve? What is the essential difference between them and animals that are alive and kicking in nature? Maybe Zhoukoudian site has an answer. On Sunday morning, I changed trains three times and traveled for three hours. I came to Zhoukoudian site in the suburbs of Beijing to trace the evolution of biology and solve the mystery of human origin.

It may be early. Few tourists secretly appreciate such a famous world cultural heritage. You don't have to be pushed away like visiting the Great Wall and the Forbidden City, but you will be somewhat sad for no reason. In this materialistic age, many people rushed to the scene, but few people came to the hinterland to visit the footprints of human development.

Zhoukoudian site is located at the northern foot of Gulong Mountain in Zhoukoudian, a mountain in the southwest of Beijing, 50 kilometers away from Beijing. Backed by the undulating Taihang Mountain, facing the vast North China Plain. There is a small river in front of the mountain, which is really a lot of things. Of course, I'm not here to be Tao Yuanming. It is the most abundant, systematic and valuable human site in the early Paleolithic period in the world. Especially, at 4: 00 on February 2, 929, Pei Wenzhong, a scientist from China, unearthed the first complete skull fossil of Peking Man, which provided a solid foundation for the existence of Peking Man and made Zhoukoudian a place.

Crossing the railway, the five characters "Zhoukoudian Site" inscribed by Mr. Guo Moruo can be seen impressively. After buying a ticket for 30 yuan, I entered the site area. On both sides of the mountain climbing road are big photos of famous Chinese and foreign archaeologists Dan Chi, Li Jie, Pei Wenzhong, Jia Lanpo, Bu Riye, Bu, An Tesheng and Yang who have participated in Zhoukoudian site excavation and Peking man study. At the end of the road is the Zhoukoudian Ruins Museum, which was built at 1953. It is the first museum of ancient human sites established in China. The exhibition hall in the museum uses objects, pictures, models, explanations or images or experiments, which not only explains how human beings evolved, but also tells you the history of Zhoukoudian site.

From the initial discovery to now, scientists have excavated 27 sites in Zhoukoudian site. The earliest site is Site 6, which was discovered on 19 18 by Swedish scientist An Tesheng who works in Peking Union Medical College Hospital. 192 1 year, An Tesheng and his assistants American paleontologist Granci and Austrian paleontologist Stanski discovered the first site of Zhoukoudian, and the second site of Zhoukoudian was discovered in the same year. 1927, Bushengda officially named the three human teeth found in Zhoukoudian as "Beijingers in China", also known as "Beijingers". This year, with the participation of China geologist Li Jie, Zhoukoudian site was officially excavated, and the third and fourth sites of Zhoukoudian were discovered. 1929, Pei Wenzhong, a paleontologist from China, discovered the first Peking man skull at sites 5, 7 and 8.

After the July 7th Incident, Zhoukoudian was occupied by the Japanese army and the excavation work was terminated. During the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression period, Peking Union Medical College, which was run by Americans, has excavated six relatively complete skulls and stored them here. On the eve of the Pacific War, China and the United States planned to transfer them to the United States to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Japanese. Unfortunately, these national treasures mysteriously disappeared during transshipment and their whereabouts are still unknown. Recently, it is rumored that these skull fossils are hidden in the underground chamber of the Japanese royal family. It takes time to answer whether it is true or not.

Out of the museum, in front of the museum is a sculpture of a woman's head based on the skull of a "Beijinger", where a young couple took photos as a souvenir. The man said to the woman, "You are much more beautiful than her", and the woman said, "Labor makes her look like a pig. You will become a pig if you don't work hard.

On the east side of Gulong Mountain, there are excavation sites from bottom to top, such as ape cave, pigeon hall, the fourth site and the cave on the top of the mountain. It is here that the fossils of Homo erectus, Early Homo sapiens and Late Homo sapiens from the early Pliocene to the late Pleistocene were unearthed, which constitute a continuous evolutionary sequence of ancient humans and are unique among human sites. The World Heritage Committee commented on Zhoukoudian Site as follows: "It can provide a unique or at least special witness for a fading civilization or cultural tradition; It is directly or substantively related to events with special universal significance, current traditions, ideas, beliefs or literary and artistic works. Only under some special circumstances or when the standard works with other standards, this paragraph can be the reason for inclusion in the World Heritage List. The ancient human fossils found in Zhoukoudian site in Beijing prove that "Beijingers" lived in the Middle Pleistocene era. At the same time, various articles of life and the remains of new humans from BC 18000 to BC1000 were found. Zhoukoudian site is not only a rare historical evidence about ancient Asian human society, but also illustrates the process of human evolution. "

The reason why people are human is to work first and use tools to work. The use of "fire" and "stone tools" is a symbol of the civilization and culture of "Beijingers". Traces of fire, namely "Ape Cave", were found in the L site of Zhoukoudian, which advanced the history of human use of fire by hundreds of thousands of years. The Beijing Olympic flame was collected in Zhoukoudian, which is justified and worthy of the name. Outside the ruins, the flame square is still there. There are five ash layers and two well-preserved ash piles, and bone burning has been found in all layers with human activities. In addition, charred trees, charred stones and charred clods were also found, and even some stone tools showed traces of charring. We can know from the study of the remains of using fire that "Beijingers" not only know how to use fire, but also have the ability to control fire and preserve kindling. The fuel for the fire is mainly herbs, and branches and fresh bones are also used as wages.

Stone tools are the main representative of "Beijingers" culture. "Beijingers" have created three different methods of chiseling stones, mainly making small stones with a length of 20-30 mm by smashing stones; Common length is 20-40mm; Tools fall into two categories. The first category includes stone hammers, stone hammers and stone drills. The second category includes scraper, pointed device, chopping device, engraving machine, stone cone and spherical device.

The treasure of Zhoukoudian Museum Town Hall is a horned fossil of the skull of "swollen-boned bighorn deer" found halfway up the mountain 13. The skulls of Beijingers were found in caves at the top of the mountain. Its discovery solved the argument that Homo erectus was an ape or a human since the discovery of Javanese in19th century. Known as "the most meaningful and touching discovery in the whole ancient human history", it has pushed forward the historical record of human evolution for about 400 thousand years. Jia Lanpo, an archaeologist with high school education and an academician of China Academy of Sciences, discovered three Peking man skull fossils in one day, which shocked China and foreign countries and was praised as a world-class gold medal for China scientists in modern academic circles. The discovery and study of Beijingers and their cultures conform to the historical trend. Focusing on the goal of building Beijing into a world city, Chen Mingde, a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), proposed three times to define Beijing culture, because the cultural evolution of any national capital is not rich in the cultural core spirit that has been in the same strain for 30,000 years. It is no wonder that Zhoukoudian site has become a sacred place to seek roots and worship ancestors in China and even many Asian countries.

On the hillside behind Zhoukoudian Museum, there is a memorial garden for scientists, where scientists such as Yang, Pei Wenzhong, Jia Lanpo, Wu Rukang, Yin Mengxun are buried. They studied Beijingers all their lives, dedicated their lives to Beijingers, and lived next to them after their death. They are pure scientists, capital China people. It is worth mentioning that Mr. Yang, a native of Huaxian County, Shaanxi Province, and I have been very close to this township party, and I visited his grave three times. What I want to ask Mr. Wang is that the year he died (1978) happened to be the year when my hometown "Dali people" was discovered. How much historical and cultural loss was caused by that fleeting historical regret? Is there a knowledgeable underground teacher who can give me a correct answer?

Don't pay attention to the beating rain in the forest. Mei sings a long whistle and walks leisurely. Diligence is the foundation of being a man. The Zhoukoudian site tells us that human history is not only thousands of years, but that creating a better life through labor is an eternal theme in the history of human development.