Piltdown Hoax

On December 18, 1912, in London a meeting of the U.K.'s Geological Society, archaeologist Charles Dawson and Arthur Smith Woodward declared discoveries that were a game changer in the scientific world, or so it seemed. After a lengthy digging up of the Piltdown pit in England, Dawson had excavated human-resembling skull remains and a jaw, along with various animal fossils and basic tools. Dawson and Woodward publicized that ancient skull and the jaw belonged to a hominid, who lived some 500,000 to 1 million years ago. The scientific world cheered Dawson's discovery as the answer for the gap between ape and man. The first doubts about Piltdown Man’s truth surfaced in the 1920s with the finding of other primitive human remains discovered around the world. By this discovery it shed light on the original discovery that Dawson & Woodward made. None of them showed the same large brain and ape-like jaw of Piltdown Man; in its place, they suggested the opposite that jaws and teeth became human-like before a large brain developed. In November 1953, authorities of the British Natural History Museum announced these findings and publicly called Piltdown Man a fraud.

Human faults come into play in all our lives. In this particular case, it seemed Dawson wanted to be held in high esteem with his fellow scientists. It is evident that in his time he made-up many suspicious discoveries to astonish museum curators to get into various scientific societies. He wanted fame even at the cost of being a fraud. In the end he is remembered for being a fraud not a scientist.

The Piltdown Man findings were sealed up after Dawson's death in 1916 and it was not until 1949 that scientists were able to perform experiments on the fossils. The hoax was visible when modern technology showed the fossils, claiming to be around 500,000 years old, were two different species - a human skull and an ape jaw. Hence discovering the remains originated from two different species, they found miniscule scratches on the teeth, demonstrating they had been filed down to appear more human. Most of the discoveries where they say they found these skulls, the tools, had been tainted to resemble the gravel color. Later investigations, scientists performed DNA analysis on the fragments to verify where the jaw came from.

Unfortunately, it is not possible to remove the human factor from science, because humans are the scientists. But scientist have ways to prove their theories are accurate. I believe scientists should make sure what they are proclaiming is true so we protect the integrity of what is proclaimed as golden.

A life lesson that never tires out id what is usually too good to be true probably is. An example for me is on Facebook a sponsored ad of Christian Louboutin Shoes for around $200 a piece (usually $675 and up $2000 a pair). I thought what a great deal. I bought two pairs and then I started reading the reviews about this being a fraud. Deep down I knew better, I thought maybe this was a closeout sale or something. I refused the package when it got here as they were fakes and my credit card reversed charges and sent me a new credit card. The point is something too good to be true probably is.