Anthropology Scavenging the Peking Man

Anthropology

Scavenging the Peking Man

Neal Boaz and Russell Ciochon's "Scavenging of Peking Man" examines developments in our understanding of the Peking Man and, more interestingly, how easy it can be to misinterpret archaeological evidence. Boaz and Ciochon document the history of our knowledge about Peking Man as it has bee derived from the Peking Man site at Zhoukoudian in China. Excavations that lasted from 1921 until 1982 unearthed 45 specimens of Homo erectus pekinsensis as well as thousands of animal bones in the original cave at the site. Initial, and persistent, analysis of the remains suggested that Peking Man had mastered fire and practiced cannibalism. But the application of a new field of study -- taphonomy, the study of how animal and plant remains can become modified after death -- demonstrated that these conclusions were incorrect. Instead, the most likely explanation is that the cave site was predominantly occupied by a species of giant hyena that periodically killed and dragged Peking Man individuals back to the site to be eaten.

Most intriguing is the explanation that taphonomy provides as to why so many of the facial bones of Peking Man are missing from the skulls that were found at the Zhoukoudian site. An examination of the existing skulls demonstrated bite marks above the brow ridges that suggest the hyenas grasped the face of Peking Man in their mouth and literally bit off the face as a means of killing the prey, or gaining access to the lipid-rich brain tissue. The evidence, in this case, supports the authors' claims that taphonomy is a better explanation of the site than original archaeological conclusions. This sub-discipline is of particular import because it rejects the implied notion that fossils remains are static images of the moment of a creature's death, and instead accepts that even after death changes can occur that will affect the record we are able to unearth.