For over half a century, a mystery remained unsolved: whatever happened to the remains of the prehistoric homo erectus known as 'Peking Man'? The collection of fossils, discovered in the outskirts of Beijing in the late 1920s, comprised skulls, skull fragments and bones of around 40 individuals who lived approx. 400,000 years ago.

In 1941, the fossils vanished in transit to the U.S. amid a backdrop of World War II. Theories of their whereabouts range from being lost at sea to being ground up for medicine. Thankfully, all was not lost, as casts of the fossils had been made.

Further excavations would later show that the Peking Man was able to control fire – an important skill given the cold winter weather in northern China.