The site has been dated to 780,000 to 400,000 years ago.
A set of around 200 Homo erectus fossils from more than 40 individuals unearthed at the Zhoukoudian archaeological site near Beijing in the 1920s and 1930s. They were originally assigned to the now-obsolete group Sinanthropus pekinensis. The fossils, which included several relatively complete skulls, went missing during the Second World War. Fortunately, casts had been made. The site has been dated to 780,000 to 400,000 years ago.