The Piltdown Hoax

What was believed to be an incredible discovery that would have helped answer the question of where humans come from, turned out to be one of the greatest hoaxes in science history. The Piltdown “discoveries” occurred in the early 1900’s in Sussex, England. Charles Dawson – an amateur archeologist – was given a piece of skull, dug out by a laborer in the area. Dawson partnered with geologist Woodward and together excavated the Piltdown location, finding prehistoric animal remains, Stone Age tools and an ape-like jawbone (PBS). Dawson believed the jawbone and previously found skull piece were of the same fossil. Both men dubbed their finding as the Piltdown man, convincing everyone that it was one of the earliest humans that connected man and apes. It was also an attempt to establish the fact that humanity originated in England, and not Africa. The scientific community was ecstatic, because something of such significance aided proof to Darwin’s theory of evolution. Through these “discoveries”, paleontologists and anthropologists were given one of the earliest missing nodes of the human evolutionary tree.

Although Dawson was an enthusiastic scientist and ambitiously seeking credibility in the industry, he did have faults. Dishonesty and self-interest play a role in the Piltdown story. Dawson’s willingness to introduce falsified fossils as real evidence to the world is as dishonest as his ambition for science. Seeking recognition within prestigious groups at the expense of science for self-gain an extremely selfish act upon everyone. Negative actions such as these impact the scientific process, because it disrupts honest science. The time and hard work that good scientist had contributed was derailed by Dawson’s claims. Though there were doubters of his discoveries, it was unfortunate that there were no challenges to the credibility Piltdown Man at the time.

The positive aspects on the other hand, was the scientific process of fluorine analysis. This is the method that brought the truth of the Piltdown Man into light. This analysis process is a relative dating process that applies to bones. “The longer a bone lies in the earth, the more fluorine it will incorporate during fossilization process” (Germain 273). In the early 1950’s, this was the technique conducted by Professor Oakley, of the British Museum, to uncover the truth of Dawson’s discovered fossils. By finding the fluorine content of the fossils, he proved that the age of Piltdown Man was far younger then believed. A full-scale analysis found that the staining/color of the bones were superficial and that abrasions on the molars showed that they were filed down. It truly was an elaborate and deliberate attempt to forge human history.

There will always be a human factor in science, because humans are part of the process of science. Mistakes will be carried; inaccuracies will exist, and unfortunately dishonesty will be present. When faced with such adversaries, science must prevail through the rigorous work of honest scientists. And when there is concern of malpractice or suspicion of false information, one must stand up to those inaccuracies and challenge.

We could learn plenty from the Piltdown Man hoax.  It goes back to the saying “You can’t believe everything you see of hear”. More often than not, we must take that extra step to verify information that’s been passed down to us. For 40 years the Piltdown Man fossils were held as truth, and there was no one to challenge its validity, and those that tried were limited to do so. It teaches us that we should not take face value of anything. A great example is the information that’s passed on social media. Countless posts, memes, articles and photos circulate to misinform people. If we are not diligent to verify information, we are surely being duped as the people of Dawson’s era were.