Piltdown Hoax

          The Piltdown man was falsified skeletal remains of what was thought to be an early- possibly the earliest- human ancestor, found in 1912 in the Village of Piltdown, England by Charles Dawson.  At the time, the skeletal remains of the Piltdown man were a huge breakthrough because they appeared to be that of an early human with a modern human-sized brain cavity in the skull but an apelike jaw, which caused scientists to believe that the earliest humans were more human-like than apelike.  This evidence also supported the idea that the hominin brain evolved to be large before other traits evolved, including bipedalism- which we now know that bipedalism came first. The remains appeared to be a previously unknown species of an early hominin that probably went extinct before the end of the Pleistocene era, which would also mean that England was possibly the birthplace of the earliest human ancestor.  This “discovery” sent scientists down a wrong path, for 40 years, wasting time and resources. 

          After the initial discovery, some contradictory evidence began to arise, questioning the validity of the Piltdown man.  Throughout the 1930’s, fossil remains of other early hominins, Pithecanthropus and Australopithecus, were found in Asia and Africa that were supposedly younger than the Piltdown remains, but their skulls were less human, not more human.  This didn’t make sense because if the Piltdown remains were as old as they were claimed to be, then they should appear to be more apelike than they did, because other “younger” remains were more apelike. The Piltdown remains began to come under more and more scrutiny because they seemed to be an isolated find that didn’t really fit into the evolutionary puzzle relative to new pieces of evidence scientists were finding.  The Piltdown remains were subjected to a fluorine test in 1949.  It was a new technology for dating, invented by Kenneth Oakley, that measured the fluorine buildup in bones from groundwater over time.  The fluorine test showed the remains to be much younger than previously thought, ranging from 50,000 to 100,000 years old.  In 1953 the Piltdown remains were subjected to even more testing during which they were determined to be fake.   Kenneth Oakley discovered that not only were the remains not as old as claimed to be, but the jawbone of the skull was from a different species, likely an orangutan. He also discovered that the bones had been boiled and then chemicals had been used to stain the remains to make them match each other and to make them appear older than they were. The teeth had also been crudely filed down, and the canine tooth find was crudely filed and covered in paint.  All 40 pieces of skeletal remains that had been found in Piltdown were fraudulent.

          The discovery that the Piltdown man was a hoax was devastating for scientists who spent much of their career studying the Piltdown remains and basing their ideas and research on the find.  It was a huge blow to the scientific community for many reasons including time, money, and energy wasted but also because it caused the public to lose faith in scientific research and evidence.

          Pride and dishonesty were two of the biggest offenders in this scenario in my opinion.  Dishonesty on the behalf of whoever originated this hoax, but also, a lack of integrity on the part of Sir Arthur Woodward for not taking a closer look at the remains.  Although I do not think that Sir Arthur Woodward played a part in this forgery, I think that he should have checked the integrity of the find with a nitrogen test, or even inspected the remains with a magnifying glass.  Instead of just accepting and promoting the remains as real, he should have spent a little more time using all the methods at his disposal to try to determine authenticity as much as he could.  Everyone was so eager to believe that the find was real, that important steps in authentication were ignored. 

          It is important to note, however, that this incident did show a positive side to the scientific process in the determination of the remains being a hoax.  The desire for the Piltdown remains to be real ultimately didn’t keep scientists from being skeptical and subjecting the remains to modern tests as the technology became available.  Kenneth Oakley, the scientist who developed the fluorine test, not only discovered that the Piltdown remains were not as old as claimed, but also using magnification was able to see that parts of the remains had been filed down, like the teeth.  Upon further inspection, he and a few other scientists were able to determine that the some of the remains weren’t even fossils, but just bones, and that the bones had been boiled and then stained to match and appear older than they were.  The museum that had protected the remains for so long took responsibility and made the embarrassing announcement that they were in fact fraudulent. 

          In light of these events, it may seem necessary to find a way to take the human aspect out of science.  However, not only do I believe that the human aspect can’t be completely removed, it shouldn’t be.  The best thing that scientists can do is to learn from situations like these, and to remember that there are processes in place that always need to be followed to retain the integrity of scientific investigation and research.  Also, science should always be transparent and all scientists in the field should be allowed to investigate new finds as a sort of checks and balance system. The human aspect can’t be removed because scientists are human, but it shouldn’t be removed because the human aspect also adds a unique perspective and can lead to even greater breakthroughs.  Human ingenuity is what has led to some of the biggest breakthroughs in history. 

          The Piltdown man hoax was horrible on so many levels.  It was a selfish and dishonest thing for the perpetrator to do.  However, I believe scientists learned a powerful lesson that no matter how eager one is to believe something is true, it still needs to be subjected to all methods of verification/authentication available in order to maintain scientific integrity. The scientific method exists for a reason, and it is important that we don’t take these processes for granted, no matter how mundane they may seem.  Also, always ask for the proof.  Everyone took Sir Arthur Woodward’s word for the authentication of the Piltdown man because he was a prestigious and highly respected scientist.  We all need to remember not to let titles get in the way of the truth.