The earliest traces of human habitation in the Beijing municipality were found in the caves of Dragon Bone Hill near the village of Zhoukoudian in Fangshan District, where Peking Man lived. Homo erectus fossils from the caves date to 230,000 to 250,000 years ago. Paleolithic homo sapiens also lived there more recently, about 27,000 years ago. Archaeologists have found neolithic settlements throughout the municipality including Wangfujing in downtown Beijing.
The first walled city in Beijing was Ji, the capital of the State of Ji from the 11th to 7th century BCE, and later the capital of the State of Yan, one of the powers of the Warring States period (473–221 BCE). Ji was located to the south of Beijing West Railway Station
