A human parietal bone was recently discovered among the mammal fossils at the No. 15 Location of Zhoukoudian by a research team from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, through several new technological means such as CT scanning and 3D reconstruction. This is the first time that a Pleistocene human fossil has been found there 50 years after the discovery of a fossilized tooth at the No.4 Location in 1973.

The new discovery has therefore added a new human fossil exploration site to Zhoukoudian. The No. 15 Location, where the fossil was found, was discovered in 1932 and was systematically excavated from 1934 to 1937, yielding a large number of stone tools and mammal fossils dating from the late Middle Pleistocene period about 200,000 years ago. The human fossils found at the No.1 Location are estimated to be about 500,000 years old and are classified as fossils of Homo erectus.

Based on other fossilized materials unearthed this time, it can be assumed that the recently found parietal bone is at least 200,000 years old. Its exact age is yet to be verified.

(Source: Beijing Daily)