Piltdown Hoax

In 1908, a skull was uncovered by a laborer in the southern English village of Piltdown. That skull was passed along to amateur geologist, Charles Dawsin. Seeing the potential of such a find, Dawson continued searching Piltdown for further archeological finds.

By mid-1912, Dawson, along with England’s leading geologist at the Natural History Museum, Sir Arthur Smith Woodward, had discovered a portion of the missing lower jawbone. Dawson and Woodward presented their finds to the Royal Geological Society on December 18, 1912. Dawson and Woodward’s fellow scientists were equally pleased to have finally found the missing link between apes and humans.

However, despite overall acceptance of the find, there were serious doubts to the authenticity of such a discovery. Questions were raised over the appearance of a mismatch between the jaw and skull bones. Also, without a canine tooth to prove its authenticity, questions continued to linger. That is, until Dawson found the supposed canine tooth a year later.

In 1917, Dawson unearthed what he claimed to have been a second Piltdown man just a few miles from the original dig. This find, in conjunction with the missing canine tooth and the flawless reputation of esteemed geologist Woodward, ensured that any lingering doubts would be laid to rest.

By the 1920’s, fossils had been found in Asia and Africa that suggested the Piltdown Man may not be what he had first been perceived. The bones from Piltdown just did not match the bones found elsewhere. In fact, the bones found in Asia and Africa had lived long after Piltdown Man and yet appeared less human.

It wasn’t until 1949 that the first real testing was done on the fossils from Piltdown. A fluorine test was administered which showed that the bones were not ½ a million years old, but rather, 100,000 years old. A full scale analysis wasn’t conducted until 1953 when Kenneth Oakley used a chemical test on the skull and jaw. At such time it was discovered that the bones had been stained artificially and cut with a steel knife and that the teeth had been filed down to resemble teeth with human wear patterns. It was finally discovered that the jaw bone was that of a female orangutan from less than 100 years earlier.

Not only were scientists outraged by the discovery of Dawson’s fraud but the English mostly were embarrassed that they had been fooled and for so long. Dawson was denounced as a phony and it was later found that all of his other archeological finds had also been forged. He has even been compared to the primate he so eagerly tried to pass off as human.

Unfortunately, due to human pride and national patriotism, the English were quick to dismiss any questions and willingly accept presumptions made regarding the skull and jaw found by Dawson from the get-go. Up until that point, the field of science had been thought to only include scholars and gentleman.

The Piltdown hoax succeeded in bringing to light that such forgery could happen to anyone, anywhere and in that way was a lesson that needed to be taught. From there on out, scientists were more alert to the dangers of fraud, which, despite having led most astray for over 40 years probably helped them gain insight and learn more about trusting blindly based on reputation and ego.

While I feel it is nearly impossible to remove the “human” factor from science, it is essential to come as close as possible to help eliminate further episodes, such as the Piltdown hoax, from happening in the future.