Piltdown Man Hoax

On December 18, 1912, bones believed to be of ancient primate origin were discovered in Piltdown, England by an amateur archaeologist by the name of Charles Dawson. The fragments of bone they discovered consisted of a jawbone, teeth, and the piece of a skull. It was later discovered that Charles Darwin and accomplices tampered with the find and modified the pieces of the discovery. Pointy canine teeth were discovered but filed down to maintain the appearance that the skull was of human lineage.

On November 1953, Time Magazine publishes an expose on the Piltdown Man. Kenneth Page Oakley, Sir Wilfrid Edward Le Gros Clark, and Joseph Weiner are the men who proved the Piltdown Man was a Hoax. Ultimately they discovered it actually consisted of a human skull (Medieval Period),  a 500 year-old orangutan jawbone, and fossil chimpanzee teeth. The bones were stained with iron solution and chromic acid to appear legitimate.

The technology that developed in that time frame helped to expose the hoax. Scientists were eager to conclude with Charles Dawson because Briton was eager for an important find in human evolution.

The human faults that came into play here were pride, envy, and a craving for prestige. Among these faults there were genuine human motives untainted by societal pressures like genuine curiosity. Charles Dawson, being an archaeologist, already had a strong curious nature about bone discovery. The fault came when he realized his evidence was moot and tried to stifle truth and scientific progression. His pride kept him from admitting that the bones were not of human origin. He took it so far as to falsify evidence and maintained this hoax for nearly 40 years.  In Charles' lifetime he received prestige, credibility, fame, and fortune but it was all  a lie.

Thanks to science's self-correcting nature, natural skepticism, and methodology helped to expose this farce. Methods like fluorine absorption test, and other dating techniques helped to prove that the pieces of bone had varying origins.

It's not possible to remove the human element of scientists performing science. Curiosity and a drive for knowledge will always initiate the pursuit. The promise of importance, money, and fame are things that lure scientists to falsify evidence and to sabotage their integrity. It's important that we conduct our own due diligence on anything we find important and of interest. Science asks us to go based on evidence and not hearsay.