Who perpetrated the Piltdown hoax?
The Piltdown hoax began in February 1912 when amateur British paleontologist Charles Dawson (1864-1916) contacted Sir Arthur Smith Woodward (1864-1944) concerning skull fragments which Dawson claimed were discovered by workmen digging in the Piltdown gravel pit in Sussex, England. Dawson and Woodward formed an excavation team and by the end of 1912 the rest of the Piltdown Man had been uncovered. This sensational discovery consisting of parts of a human skull, part of an orangutan jaw and several teeth from various animals, was officially presented to the Geological Society of London in December 1912. For 40 years, Piltdown Man remained a controversial topic within the scientific community, with high-profile scientists on both sides of the debate. In 1953, Piltdown was finally proven to be a hoax. The bones had been stained to make them appear ancient while the teeth had been sloppily filed to change their wear pattern. The Piltdown hoax remains one of the most notorious scientific hoa
