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Peking Man: The Discovery, Disappearance and Mystery of a Priceless Scientific Treasure
Book by Harry L. Shapiro
190 pages, Paperback
Published March 15, 1976
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March 26, 2024
A FINE HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE DISCOVERY (AND LOSS) OF THESE FOSSILS
Harry Lionel Shapiro (1902-1990) was an American anthropologist who was curator and chair of the Department of Anthropology at the American Museum of Natural History.
He wrote in the Preface to this 1974 book, “My initial reluctance [to write this book] arose from the fact that I had no new solution nor even an anticlimactic denouement to offer for the mystery of the loss of the fossil remains of Peking man. It was thirty years after their disappearance than they again became front page news, and once again a series of strange developments took place as a result. These, and new information on the events leading up to the loss, finally seemed important enough to relate as best I could if only for the record. There was also, of course, the inherent drama that offered an interest of its own.”
He says of Piltdown Man, “It is not… an unreasonable question to ask how such distinguished and knowledgeable experts as Keith, Woodward and Smith---men of undisputed authority---could have been taken in by what now appears to have been an obvious fraud. And why were so many, if not all, equivalent authorities in other countries so readily persuaded?... Perhaps scientists sometimes lost sight of objective goals when they are subtly influenced by personal identification with the objects of their interest and moved by a sense of nationalism and local pride. Keith was quite frankly exultant at the discovery in England of a fossil that outdated anything that had been found in… Europe…” (Pg. 48-49)
He explains, “One of the generally accepted explanations for the steady addition in height, generation by generation, is diet. The evidence for this is largely inferred from the fact that children on a deprived or substandard diet do not reach the height levels of better-nourished representatives of the same population, but it has never been properly assessed as a conclusive and total explanation of this trend.” (Pg. 62)
He argues, “The possibility was suggested by some scholars shortly after the fossils were first discovered that they represented the debris of cannibalistic feasts. The fact that none of the skulls was intact but all were, in fact, badly shattered and fragmented might at first glance support the idea… Actually, when the circumstances are known, cannibalism was never common or accepted simply as a source of food. Its practice was usually associated with a distinct ritualism that had mystical overtones… cannibalism… is never a regular practice… All this argues against cannibalism as a normal source of food for the Peking population…. The fact that the skulls and skeletons are broken and fragmented is more realistically explained as the result of crushing by the weight of the rocks and layers of debris falling upon the bones from the ceilings of the caves. It is, in fact, very rare to find fossils as old as these to be complete and in good condition.” (Pg. 83-84)
He states, “Nowadays there is a growing tendency to minimize the differences between classic Neanderthal man and modern man and to derive the latter directly from the former. The Palestinian cave materials seem to support this idea. But when one examines a classic Neanderthal skull… one cannot escape the conviction that its fundamental anatomical formation is an enlarged and developed version of the Homo erectus skull… When Neanderthal and Homo sapiens skulls are placed side by side, the contrast is immediately apparent and unmistakable… For this reason I find it difficult to accept an evolutionary transformation within the brief time span that separated the Neanderthal and sapiens populations in the European chronology, yet I strongly suspect that the Neanderthal type may well represent a survival of a stage antecedent to modern man.” (Pg. 125-126)
He continues, “I am inclined to believe that the actual transition to Homo sapiens may have taken place outside Europe altogether… It has … become increasingly clear … that, as the glacial periods recurrently invaded Europe as well as other parts of the Northern hemisphere, the distinct climatic zones moved southward. Thus, the temperate band that now characterizes Europe… would have been displaced with the onset of glaciation… At the peaks of glaciation, these regions… might well have provided a suitable environment for the evolving Homo sapiens. And, in the course of the many thousands of years before the zones moved northward again, there would have been time enough for the final transformation to modern man. With Homo sapiens at the end of the last glaciation moving back to Europe with the shifting climatic zones, he would have left the evidence behind him, and we must therefore look elsewhere than in Europe for this final alteration.” (Pg. 129)
He states, “The big question then becomes: What stimulated the growth of the brain, and why did it come after the early hominids had adapted to a terrestrial existence? For although the primates on the whole, and progressively in the course of their evolution, reveal a very respectable development of the brain, making them in this respect one of the distinctive orders of mammals, none ever approached the human level. The answer is at present not easily provided. Some students have suggested that social developments among these early hominids played an important role. Another possibility… is the use of the hand in technological innovations. This… might have been very critical in selecting for superior ability, which in turn would have advanced cultural and technological achievements to continue the selective process.” (Pg. 144-145)
He also recounts the disappearance of the Peking fossils: “Considering that that fossils were mostly fragments of cranial bones, teeth and some leg bones, it would seem that two boxes would have been adequate to contain the lot… It is known that the so-called ‘upper cave material’ was also removed and that various records and other pertinent matter may have been included for transferal out of the country… When Colonel Ashurst, Dr. Foley and their fellow officers lost their diplomatic status they were declared prisoners of war. They were all shipped to a prison camp near Shanghai, where they took their luggage, including the one footlocker… it is tragic to have to relate that at the end of the [Second World War] this box, which had survived so many moves and so many hazards, disappeared with its secrets.” (Pg. 153-154)
He concludes, “Although some authorities have resigned themselves to the complete and irretrievable loss of the fossils, somehow this last possibility strikes me as the most devastating of all. If they had been stolen or hidden away, one might continue to hope that sometime---somewhere---somehow they might reappear and once again occupy the niche that such treasures deserve. But their being swept away into a rubbish heap has the horror and sadness that … would overwhelm one… I find this a tragic end that I am not prepared to accept until every clue has been explored and pursued. I would hope that an international group or committee, cooperating fully with the Chinese, might be established to carry out such a responsible investigation. At this stage, however, we can only speculate while we mourn.” (Pg. 179)
This book will be of interest to anyone studying the Peking fossils.
Harry Lionel Shapiro (1902-1990) was an American anthropologist who was curator and chair of the Department of Anthropology at the American Museum of Natural History.
He wrote in the Preface to this 1974 book, “My initial reluctance [to write this book] arose from the fact that I had no new solution nor even an anticlimactic denouement to offer for the mystery of the loss of the fossil remains of Peking man. It was thirty years after their disappearance than they again became front page news, and once again a series of strange developments took place as a result. These, and new information on the events leading up to the loss, finally seemed important enough to relate as best I could if only for the record. There was also, of course, the inherent drama that offered an interest of its own.”
He says of Piltdown Man, “It is not… an unreasonable question to ask how such distinguished and knowledgeable experts as Keith, Woodward and Smith---men of undisputed authority---could have been taken in by what now appears to have been an obvious fraud. And why were so many, if not all, equivalent authorities in other countries so readily persuaded?... Perhaps scientists sometimes lost sight of objective goals when they are subtly influenced by personal identification with the objects of their interest and moved by a sense of nationalism and local pride. Keith was quite frankly exultant at the discovery in England of a fossil that outdated anything that had been found in… Europe…” (Pg. 48-49)
He explains, “One of the generally accepted explanations for the steady addition in height, generation by generation, is diet. The evidence for this is largely inferred from the fact that children on a deprived or substandard diet do not reach the height levels of better-nourished representatives of the same population, but it has never been properly assessed as a conclusive and total explanation of this trend.” (Pg. 62)
He argues, “The possibility was suggested by some scholars shortly after the fossils were first discovered that they represented the debris of cannibalistic feasts. The fact that none of the skulls was intact but all were, in fact, badly shattered and fragmented might at first glance support the idea… Actually, when the circumstances are known, cannibalism was never common or accepted simply as a source of food. Its practice was usually associated with a distinct ritualism that had mystical overtones… cannibalism… is never a regular practice… All this argues against cannibalism as a normal source of food for the Peking population…. The fact that the skulls and skeletons are broken and fragmented is more realistically explained as the result of crushing by the weight of the rocks and layers of debris falling upon the bones from the ceilings of the caves. It is, in fact, very rare to find fossils as old as these to be complete and in good condition.” (Pg. 83-84)
He states, “Nowadays there is a growing tendency to minimize the differences between classic Neanderthal man and modern man and to derive the latter directly from the former. The Palestinian cave materials seem to support this idea. But when one examines a classic Neanderthal skull… one cannot escape the conviction that its fundamental anatomical formation is an enlarged and developed version of the Homo erectus skull… When Neanderthal and Homo sapiens skulls are placed side by side, the contrast is immediately apparent and unmistakable… For this reason I find it difficult to accept an evolutionary transformation within the brief time span that separated the Neanderthal and sapiens populations in the European chronology, yet I strongly suspect that the Neanderthal type may well represent a survival of a stage antecedent to modern man.” (Pg. 125-126)
He continues, “I am inclined to believe that the actual transition to Homo sapiens may have taken place outside Europe altogether… It has … become increasingly clear … that, as the glacial periods recurrently invaded Europe as well as other parts of the Northern hemisphere, the distinct climatic zones moved southward. Thus, the temperate band that now characterizes Europe… would have been displaced with the onset of glaciation… At the peaks of glaciation, these regions… might well have provided a suitable environment for the evolving Homo sapiens. And, in the course of the many thousands of years before the zones moved northward again, there would have been time enough for the final transformation to modern man. With Homo sapiens at the end of the last glaciation moving back to Europe with the shifting climatic zones, he would have left the evidence behind him, and we must therefore look elsewhere than in Europe for this final alteration.” (Pg. 129)
He states, “The big question then becomes: What stimulated the growth of the brain, and why did it come after the early hominids had adapted to a terrestrial existence? For although the primates on the whole, and progressively in the course of their evolution, reveal a very respectable development of the brain, making them in this respect one of the distinctive orders of mammals, none ever approached the human level. The answer is at present not easily provided. Some students have suggested that social developments among these early hominids played an important role. Another possibility… is the use of the hand in technological innovations. This… might have been very critical in selecting for superior ability, which in turn would have advanced cultural and technological achievements to continue the selective process.” (Pg. 144-145)
He also recounts the disappearance of the Peking fossils: “Considering that that fossils were mostly fragments of cranial bones, teeth and some leg bones, it would seem that two boxes would have been adequate to contain the lot… It is known that the so-called ‘upper cave material’ was also removed and that various records and other pertinent matter may have been included for transferal out of the country… When Colonel Ashurst, Dr. Foley and their fellow officers lost their diplomatic status they were declared prisoners of war. They were all shipped to a prison camp near Shanghai, where they took their luggage, including the one footlocker… it is tragic to have to relate that at the end of the [Second World War] this box, which had survived so many moves and so many hazards, disappeared with its secrets.” (Pg. 153-154)
He concludes, “Although some authorities have resigned themselves to the complete and irretrievable loss of the fossils, somehow this last possibility strikes me as the most devastating of all. If they had been stolen or hidden away, one might continue to hope that sometime---somewhere---somehow they might reappear and once again occupy the niche that such treasures deserve. But their being swept away into a rubbish heap has the horror and sadness that … would overwhelm one… I find this a tragic end that I am not prepared to accept until every clue has been explored and pursued. I would hope that an international group or committee, cooperating fully with the Chinese, might be established to carry out such a responsible investigation. At this stage, however, we can only speculate while we mourn.” (Pg. 179)
This book will be of interest to anyone studying the Peking fossils.
February 13, 2016
sad tale of the loss of a scientific treasure---amazing cache of homo erectus skulls in China
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