The 500,000 year-old Peking Man skull went on display Thursday
at the Zhoukoudian Peking Man Museum, southwest of Beijing.
The skull is one of the only three in China, according to the
Beijing News. Sources with the museum said they would
transfer the bone from the Chinese
Academy of Sciences on Thursday, where it has been
preserved.
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The exhibition from September 30 to October 14 was to let Beijing
citizens have a better understanding of Peking Man, said Yang
Haifeng, curator of the museum.
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Chinese archaeologists unearthed the skull in 1929 at Zhoukoudian,
about 50 km southwest of downtown Beijing. At the time, the
discovery stunned the world.
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China has since discovered five other complete Peking Man skulls.
Three were lost during World War II and the other two discovered in
1996.
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According to scientists' research, the 1966 skulls together with
the 1930s skull, belong to the same Peking Man, who was middle-aged
and has physiological characteristics of modern people.
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To ensure its safety, the museum has insured 4.5 million RMB yuan
(US$540,000) on the bone, said Yang.
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"The bone is very precious and we will ask police to transport it
while two routes have been prepared to prevent potential troubles."
said Yang.
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The museum had exhibited the other of the two existent skull-- a
frontal bone-- in 2003 under strict protection.
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(Xinhua News Agency October 1, 2004)