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Article: Peking Man grows much older in new study. (Chinese fossils may be 400,000 rather than 200,000 to 300,000 years old)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- Science News
- Article date:
- May 11, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 Science Service, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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A group of Chinese fossils known collectively as Peking Man dates to at least 400,000 years ago, considerably earlier than previous estimates, according to preliminary analysis of sediment at the site where the finds first emerged in 1921.
If the revised age holds up, it suggests that Homo erectus-the species to which Peking Man belongs-lived in East Asia before modern humans did. The former age estimate of 200,000 to 300,000 years for the fossils raised the possibility that H. erectus and an early form of H. sapiens existed simultaneously in that part of the world.
Even given a markedly older Peking Man, however, current debates over the nature of human ...