Piltdown Man – Most Influential Hoax
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By :
Irsan Kao
Submitted
2010-03-13 08:48:44 |
In 1912 Charles Dawson an amateur British archaeologist discovered the first skull of apparently primitive hominid, ancestor of man Piltdown man or Eoanthropus dawsoni in the Piltdown quarry of Sussex, England. The finding was exquisitely unique as the skull was expected to be the fossilised remains of a concealed form of early man Homo sapiens with a primitive jaw.
As the era progressed new discoveries were made and Piltdown man became an anomaly. Finally, in 1953 the truth emerged Piltdown man was a hoax!
The first Neanderthal fossil was discovered in 1856 and the hunt to find fossil remains of human ancestors continued. In the later half of the century exponential discoveries were made in Europe and Asia. Until, 1912, when Britain reported it’s first finding of the ancient remains of Pleistocene hominid. The reaction to the discovery was combined, while some paleontologists were enthusiastic, others were skeptical. The quarry yielded two skulls, a canine tooth, a tool carved from elephant tusk, a muzzle of Eoanthropus and fossil teeth from various Pleistocene animals.
The objectors held the viewpoint that the discovery of jawbone and skull was an accident of placement, since both came form different animals. They argued one accident of placement was plausible, but not recurring ones. During the next 20 years there were various findings of ancient hominids and near hominids, and none of them fit with the mythical Piltdown man.
From the chronology and the later reconstruction of events it became apparently evident that there never existed any Homo sapiens with a primitive jaw. Originally it was believed that one skull was use, later in 1989 it was precisely established that two different skulls had been used, which resembled the Ona Indian tribe in Patagonia and the jawbone was that of an orangutan. Also, the remains were treated with iron to make them appear ancient and the jawbone denture was filed to fit the description.
With the emergence of new fossil dating technique fluorine absorption test, the hoax of the Piltdown man was exposed. In 1949, the Piltdown fossils were subjected to the test and the remains were found to be relatively modern. Still the fraud was never questioned as an expert credential team supported it. However, none of them carried relative expertise on the subject matter, as the only available fossil present for study was that of early Neanderthal finds
The fraud had a significant impact on early research on human evolution. It led scientists to belive that the human brain expanded in size before the jaw adapted to new types of food and discarded the relevant discoveries of Australopithecine fossils, and the reconstruction of human evolution was thrown off track for decades.
On July 23, 1938, at Barkham Manor, Piltdown, Sir Arthur Keith unveiled a memorial to mark the site of the Piltdown Man’s discovery. The inscription on the memorial stone reads:
“Here in the old river gravel Mr Charles Dawson, FSA found the fossil skull of Piltdown Man, 1912 1913, The discovery was described by Mr Charles Dawson and Sir Arthur Smith Woodward, Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, 1913 15.”
The nearby pub was renamed The Piltdown Man in honour of it. And is still in business.
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Author Resource:-
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