An archaeologist, Jia was a graduate student working in Zhoukoudian (outside Beijing, China) in 1936 when he found three ancient humanoid skulls, later dubbed the “Peking Man” fossils. The 250,000 to 500,000-year-old remains demonstrated a clear link between modern man and our ape-like ancestors.
Jia helped preserve the Zhoukoudian site and saved many important historical records about the fossils during the Cultural Revolution, though the skulls themselves disappeared during World War II. It was recently disclosed that Jia died July 8 in Beijing from a stroke and, per his wishes, his ashes interred at Zhoukoudian. He was 92.