Taphonomy at a Distance: Zhoukoudian, "The Cave Home of Beijing Man"? [and Comments and Reply]

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Abstract
Zhoukoudian is often cited as yielding some of the earliest evidence for the use of fire and as documenting "man the hunter" living in caves during the Middle Pleistocene. In addition, it is commonly believed that this important Chinese site documents cannibalism on the part of Middle Pleistocene hominids. We examine the data from Zhoukoudian with several questions in mind: (1) What are the agents responsible for the bone accumulations inside the cave? (2) What materials within the cave reflect early hominid behavior? (3) What was the nature of that behavior? Our conclusions are at variance with traditional interpretations.