The forgery was detected with the introduction of a new dating technique, the fluorine absorption test. Using the fluorine absorption test, the Piltdown skull fragments were revealed as being relatively modern. Following this exposure, all manner of falsities were discovered of the Piltdown Man.
(I left the “evidence” part. We can work out how to organise this)
The Evidence
Piltdown man was considered to 500,000 years old. However scientific examination of the skeletal remains, the fossils and other artifacts found proved that these bones were less than 1000 years old.
The Skull
Radiocarbon dating of the skull justified that Piltdown's skull was less than 1000 years old. Further still, the unusual thickness of the skull elucidated that the skull was diseased (see image below). The owner of the skull suffered from Paget's disease, a hereditary disease in which the bone thickens.
Its modern looking braincase, which consisted of both human and ape brain case, and its ape like jaws were at odds with the finds of hominid fossils in Asia and Africa.
Cranial braincase.
Jawbone and teeth
The bones and the fossils were chemically coloured, through a technique known as flame atomic absorption. The teeth were similarly coloured in this way but in a mahogany.
The Jawbone was ape like, similarly, the canine tooth appeared ape-like. Further still, the jawbone contained a simian shelf, which is present on this jawbone which is feature of chimpanzee, gorillas and orangutans.
The teeth were also forgeries. The teeth of Piltdown man are worn down rather flat, which is unusual for ape-like teeth, humans have this sort of wear on their teeth. Humans have a rotary chewing action which causes the teeth to be worn down and have a flat feature. Dawson had taken these orangutan teeth and filed it down with a metal file, these marks can be seen with a microscope. In addition to this, Arthur Smith Woodard, accomplice to the hoax, claimed the canine tooth would be half way between that of a human and an orangutan, and surprisingly a year later that was exactly what was discovered. An orangutan tooth was coloured and sand papered down.
(On the surface of the teeth, it could be seen that they were covered with criss-cross scratch marks, indicating the use of an abrasive to wear down the teeth. Being such an obvious indication of forgery, how is it that no one ever saw them before? Perhaps it was because no one had ever thought of looking before, since nobody had held any suspicions regarding the Piltdown fragments)
Tools and Animal fossils
The tools found at Piltdown were dubbed the first tools of the “first Englishman”. However, these tools were forgeries created by another party, which is unknown but it served as a warning to Dawson and his accomplice that they knew about the hoax Dawson had and was creating.
The tools(right image) was created from an elephant fossil which was chemically coloured. It is deliberately blunted on side and sharp on another, but the markings on the tool wasn't created by stone tools but by a metal blade, as the marking suggest and tests.
Initially it was thought that this was the work of Dawson, however, in 1976 a trunk belonging to Martin Hinton, a volunteer in the British museum was found containing pieces of bone that were chemically coloured in the same way as the bones found in Piltdown. However, it is thought that Hinton was only testing with substances to find out for himself the truth behind the Piltdown Man.
Animal bones found in Martin Hinton's Trunk.
Significance of Piltdown Man
Piltdown Man was hailed as the all-important “missing link” between human and ape, with a hybrid of features from both species. It also “confirmed” the evolutionary theory that a large brain was developed before other human structures, hence the large cranium but ape-like jaw. However, once the fragments were exposed as fake, it became the greatest embarrassment of the scientific community. How is it that no one discovered this forgery sooner? How is it that all the scientists involved in the project were oblivious to such plainly obvious frauds? The great Piltdown Man hoax has taught the scientific community, and the general public at large, not to blindly accept discoveries, assuming their credibility, or to become so carried away with discoveries which conveniently seem to support current theories that any suspicions what-so-ever are pushed to the back of the mind. Furthermore, scientists will hopefully have learned (from science’s past mistakes) that they must follow through with their analyses of artefacts with meticulous care and not to assume anything or sacrifice correct scientific procedure for want of proving a theory. Never, ever again.
The Culprit?
The identity and motives of the Piltdown hoaxer were never, nor will they ever, be determined. There can only ever be suspects as the onset of WWI cut short any investigations into the issue.
The most obvious of suspects from the long line-up of all those involved and who would benefit from the discovery of this “missing link” are the three co-discoverers, Dawson, Teilhard and Woodward.
Dawson is often singled out as the sole forger as he was the one who made the initial discovery of the two skull fragments and this is compounded by his history of involvement in numerous other forgeries and plagiarisms.
(not sure about why for Teilhard yet)
Woodward, although sometimes recognised as the “straight arrow” of the group, has also had a case brought up against him as Dawson’s co-conspirator. The bones used in the forgery were hard to come by and only Woodward had access to such materials. Furthermore, Woodward was accused of restricting access to the Piltdown specimens, apparently so that the fragments could not be exposed as a hoax.
Australian Museum - What we thought of the presentation of Piltdown Man
Having had our interests sparked upon our introduction to the Piltdown Man hoax, we were looking forward to viewing the Piltdown exhibition at the Australian Museum and finding out more about the scientific hoax of the century. It was a pity that the exhibition was so small and quite lacking in detail, describing only the facts of the discovery and subsequent exposure of the forgery rather than the hype, controversy, accusations and embarrassment that pervaded the Piltdown story. However, far from being dissuasive, the exhibition encouraged us to conduct our own research into the Piltdown Man hoax, to fill in the gaps that it had (perhaps intentionally) been left open.
