Lost Treasures

One of the enduring mysteries in paleoanthropology is the disappearance of Homo erectus fossils discovered in the Peking Man Cave in Zhoukoudian, China. The story behind the disappearance of these priceless fossils sounds more like a central plot from an  Indiana Jones than anything that could have happened in real life, as the articles Scavenging of the "Peking Man"  and Lost Treasures: Peking Man explain!

The Peking man fossils of Zhoukoudian were discovered 1920's, and still remain the largest cache of Homo erectus fossils ever discovered. These excavations were overseen by the Cenozoic Research Laboratory in Beijing, which included collaborators form both China and the US. During WWII, with the impending threat of Japanese occupation, the lead researcher in Beijing, Hu Chengzhi, placed the priceless fossils into wooden crates, and sent them to the United States for safekeeping. However, the crates containing the fossils never arrived, leaving Hu Chengzhi to be among the last humans to see these incredibly important fossils.

Since their disappearance, there have been many attempts over the years to try and locate these fossils, but to no avail. Though the original fossils are lost to history, casts and detailed notes were taken prior to their disappearance, which has proven to be invaluable remnants of these lost treasures.