This reconstruction, which was done by Franz Weidenreich, is one of several of "Sinanthropus pekinensis" or "Peking Man", based on the finds from Zhoukoudian, China. "Sinanthropus pekinensis" was the original species designation of early human fossils found in the caves at Zhoukoudian. The first scientific discovery of early human fossils at Zhoukoudian was made in 1929 by the Canadian paleontologist Davidson Black. In the 1930s, fossils of about 40 individuals were excavated from the cave sites, and these finds were extensively studied by Weidenreich and his assistant Lucile Swan. Anticipating the invasion of China by Imperial Japan, Weidenreich made extremely accurate casts of all the Zhoukoudian material, including the 5 skull caps and other associated cranial pieces. These were shipped to the American Museum of Natural History in New York and to other museums. In December of 1941, the Zhoukoudian material disappeared in the confusion following the invasion of China. They were never recovered.

Later, these and other finds were incorporated into the species Homo erectus, as the similarities between these fossils and others from Java, Europe, and even Africa (all originally split into separate species) were taken into account.

The Weidenreich reconstruction displays many features indicative of Homo erectus. The skulls used in the reconstruction were long and ovoid. At the rear of the skulls, there was a large and prominent transverse torus, or protrusion (see the lateral view: third down) that ran across the skull, side to side. The skulls show a very prominent sagittal keel, or ridge of bone traveling down the midline of the skull from front to back. (See the frontal view at the top.) This is not a sagittal crest, as seen in the robust australopiths (e.g., KNM WT 17000). The mean cranial capacity of the five skull caps recovered from Zhoukoudian was 1043cc, a huge difference from earlier Homo (see KNM ER 1813) but still well below the modern average of 1300cc.