Tertiary Man in Asia: the Chou Kou Tien Discovery¹

Abstract

A RICH fossiliferous deposit at Chou Kou Tien, 70 li [about 40 kilometres] to the south-west of Peking, was first discovered in the summer of 1921 by Dr. J. G. Andersson and later surveyed and partially excavated by Dr. O. Zdansky. A preliminary report on the site was published by Dr. Andersson in March 1923 (Mem. Geol. Surv. China, Ser. A, No. 5, pp. 83–89), followed in October of that year by a brief description of his survey by Dr. Zdansky (Bull. Geol. Surv. China, No. 5, pp. 83–89). The material recovered from the Chou Kou Tien cave deposit has been prepared in Prof. Wiman's laboratory in Upsala and afterwards studied there by Dr. Zdansky. As a result of this research, Dr. Andersson has now announced that in addition to the mammalian groups already known from this site, there have also been identified representatives of the Cheiroptera, one cynopithecid, and finally two specimens of extraordinary interest, namely, one premolar and one molar tooth of a species which cannot otherwise be named than Homo? sp.