Zhao Chengwen, a professor
at the China Criminal Police Institute, at work in his
office.
An expert in police forensics has successfully reproduced the
head image of a prehistoric man that lived one million years ago in
Yunxian, central China's Hubei province, a cradle of Chinese human
ancestors. The "Yunxian Man" is believed to have lived earlier than
the prehistoric "Peking Man".
Zhao Chengwen, senior professor at the China Criminal Police
Institute, restored the ancient man's head image based on a fossil
skull excavated in 1990 from Yunxian, a county in northwestern part
of Hubei province.
The Yunxian Man fossil skull is believed by scientists to belong
to homo erectus, a predecessor of homo sapiens that walked on their
two legs with an upright body posture. The fossil skull is the only
wholly preserved skull of a homo erectus in China.
Before this feat, Professor Zhao had successfully reproduced
images of some 20 ancient people based on their remains, either a
mummified body or a piece of skull.
The expert said that the restored Yunxian Man image could well
provide concrete reference for research on the relationship between
homo erectus and homo sapiens that lived in prehistoric northern
and southern China.
The file photo shows the
fossil skull of a one-million-year-old prehistoric man, known as
Yunxian Man.
This undated photo shows
the restored image of the one-million-year-old prehistoric Yunxian
Man.
(CRI November 16, 2007)
