An exhibition is being held in Beijing to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Pei Wenzhong, the discoverer of the first Peking Man skull.

The exhibition, which showcases Pei's life and achievements, began Friday and will last through the end of the year. This year is also the 75th anniversary of Pei's discovery.

Born in 1904 in north China's Hebei Province, Pei was a famous prehistory archaeologist and paleontologist and a founder of China's studies in Paleolithic archaeology.

In 1929, Pei led an excavation to Zhoukoudian, 48 km southwest of Beijing city proper, and stumbled upon the first complete skull of Peking Man (Homo Erectus Pekinensis or Sinanthropus Pekinensis).The human predecessor is estimated to have lived 400,000 to 500,000 years ago.

Pei also confirmed the existence of stoneware and fire ashes in1930, which provided an important archaeological basis that Zhoukoudian is a relics of paleoanthropoid.

In 1966, Pei managed the exploration of the site of the Upper Cave Man, above the cave of the Peking Man, and obtained many highly valuable fossils and other cultural remains.

The find of Peking Man fossils stunned the whole world. However, the most treasured five intact skullcaps disappeared during World War II.

In 1941, attempts were made to send the five skullcaps and other precious fossils to the United States when the Japanese troops occupied Beijing. But the bones disappeared after leaving the Peking Union Medical College, which was holding the fossils at the time.

In 1987, the Peking Man site was listed as a World Cultural Heritage site and its relics now receive world-class protection.
 
(Xinhua News Agency October 4, 2004)