Charles Dawson, an amateur archaeologist, reported finding a primitive piece of skull in the small town of Piltdown in Sussex, England in 1912. This fossil was believed evidence of  the earliest human ancestor and placed man's beginnings in England. More pieces were found by Dawson and his small group but no more were discovered after his death. The skull fragments had been under study for some time and finally in 1953 were deemed a hoax. Dating methods had changed over the years and when Kenneth Oakley of Britain's Natural History Museum used a chemical test and determined that the fossil was significantly younger than was originally thought,it was discovered that the fossil was a hoax. He also revealed that the fossils had been dyed with chemicals and the teeth filed down to mimic human wear patterns.

When the hoax was exposed, Britain's Natural History Museum was embarrassed as well as the British scientific community. Some scientists were not surprised by the revelation having been skeptical for quite some time. Regardless, the infamous find steered scientists down the wrong path for years.

Piltdown Man is a classic story of jealousy, ambition, rivalry, pride and ego driving people to do things that would make them famous, regardless of the truth. Scientists have received a negative fallout from this episode. People want to know how easily are scientists deceived? How could they have been fooled for so long?  Some say that is was not in anyone's mind to imagine it was a hoax because it fit in with the theories of the time. Many believe that it's possible scientists did know it was a hoax but wanted to believe so hard that they ignored some obvious flaws. Which would bring into question their integrity on a different level. Many thought that the theory of evolution should be brought into question.The truth is that many, many people over a span of four decades wasted their lives exploring avenues that were completely false and just dead ends. The structure had to be redone and when the hoax was revealed there were sighs of released frustration and confusion and light bulbs going on  all over the scientific community. Things became clearer with Piltdown Man out of the picture and studies could once again move forward. I wonder how far ahead we would be now if that hoax had been revealed sooner.

Kenneth Oakley and L. E. Parsons examine  Piltdown Man

Improvements in scientific methods and equipment made the hoax easier to discover. Oakley used the the fluorine absorption test to date the fossil, which was a new dating technique at the time. Items that were in soil would, over time, absorb fluoride from the groundwater. It could be estimated how long the item had been in the ground by measuring how much fluoride was in it. In order for this to work there must be another similar item to compare it with since the amounts of fluoride fluctuated in the groundwater. Because fluoride is absorbed at different rates by different items this method is not completely accurate and can be compensated for by using calculations accommodating for the rate of absorption with a large margin of error. A microscope was used to examine the molars and the file marks were clear in showing that the teeth had been falsely worn and plugged with chewing gum and sand.

 It is not possible to completely remove the human factor to prevent future errors, however, the idea is raised that with new technology it would be more difficult to perpetrate such a hoax.....or would it? While a hoax might be easier to prove, with more advanced technology is it not also easier to fabricate a more advanced hoax that could be more difficult to solve? I would not want to remove the human element, given the choice. Curiosity, and appreciation are what make science great. Without humans there are no questions to be answered.

A moral to take away from the story of the Piltdown Man Hoax......your own selfish pride and ambition can affect not only you but people you never even imagined; on a huge scale for years to come. In your personal life, while one doesn't want to live their life being skeptical of everyone and everything, exercise wisdom in what you take at face value. Judge not only by what you see but who is handing it to you. Question yourself if you want to believe something and make sure that you are seeing what is true or not true and not just what you want to see. It can follow you for the rest of your life and into others' lives.