11 Facts About Piltdown Man

Piltdown Man was a paleoanthropological fraud in which bone fragments were presented as the fossilised remains of a previously unknown early human.

Piltdown Man went on to indicate that, save for two human-like molar teeth, the jaw bone was indistinguishable from that of a modern, young chimpanzee.

Almost from the outset, Woodward's reconstruction of the Piltdown Man fragments was strongly challenged by some researchers.

The canine in the Piltdown Man jaw was impossible as it prevented side to side movement.

In November 1953, Time magazine published evidence, gathered variously by Kenneth Page Oakley, Sir Wilfrid Edward Le Gros Clark and Joseph Weiner, proving that Piltdown Man was a forgery and demonstrating that the fossil was a composite of three distinct species.

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Piltdown Man hoax succeeded so well because, at the time of its discovery, the scientific establishment believed that the large modern brain preceded the modern omnivorous diet, and the forgery provided exactly that evidence.

Piltdown Man suspected that it had been artificially aged – "stained by C Dawson with intent to defraud".

Piltdown Man remained deeply suspicious of Dawson for many years to come, though he never sought to discredit him publicly, possibly because it would have been an argument against the eolith theory, which Morris strongly supported.

Piltdown Man wanted to be a member of the Royal Society and he was after an MBE [sic].

However, over time the Piltdown Man lost its validity, as other discoveries such as Taung Child and Peking Man were made.

Piltdown Man case is an example of how race, nationalism, and gender influenced scientific and public opinion.