Article
ID: CBB005023580

Iconic photographs of the Zhoukoudian Team and Chinese-Western interaction surrounding the Peking man discovery (2022)

unapi
Davidson Black Birger Bohlin Paleontology Photographs Earth sciences Cross-cultural interaction; cultural influence Paleoanthropology 20th century, early China Yang, Zhongjian

The in situ discovery of the first Peking Man skull in December 1929 was a dramatic historical event in geology and paleoanthropology. Two iconic photographs appear widely in books on Peking Man (formerly Sinanthropus pekinensis), and they show a group of Chinese and Western geologists inside a caravansary at Zhoukoudian (Choukoutien) near Beijing. Long-standing issues of inconsistencies, uncertainties and lack of context regarding these photographs are addressed by using clues from published works as well as from photographs in the collection of China’s first vertebrate paleontologist Dr. Yang Zhongjian (1897–1979; C. C. Young). The paper determines the year of the photographs, their connection to other photographs, the identity of a tall man in one of the photographs, and the exact date and occasion of the event. Chinese-Western interaction of the Zhoukoudian team is discussed, and unpublished letters between Yang and Western scientists including Davidson Black (1884–1934) are presented to give a personal touch to the historical context surrounding the Peking Man discovery.

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Authors & Contributors
Yen, Hsiao-pei
Edward P.F. Rose
Volkan Sarıgül
Yu, Xiaobo
Ali Mehmet Celâl Şengör
Madison, Paige
Journals
Earth Sciences History: Journal of the History of the Earth Sciences Society
Ziran Kexueshi Yanjiu (Studies in the History of Natural Sciences)
Zhongguo Keji Shiliao (China Historical Materials of Science and Technology)
Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences
History of Science
History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences
Publishers
Harvard University
University of Chicago Press
Steyler Verlag
Riverhead Books
Garret
Geological Society of America
Concepts
Paleontology
Earth sciences
Paleoanthropology
Fossils
Geology
Cross-cultural interaction; cultural influence
People
Yuan Fuli
Yang, Zhongjian
Yang, Chongrui
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre
Suess, Eduard
Martini, Martino
Time Periods
20th century, early
19th century
17th century
Places
China
United States
Malta
East Asia
Turkey
South Africa
Institutions
Rockefeller Foundation
Jesuits (Society of Jesus)
American Museum of Natural History, New York
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