Piltdown hoax: Difference between revisions
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The Piltdown Hoax was a paleoanthropological controversy involving the falsification of a [[fossil]] specimen to provide the missing link between [[ | {{subpages}} | ||
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The '''Piltdown Hoax''' was a paleoanthropological controversy involving the falsification of a [[fossil]] specimen to provide the missing link between [[ape]]s and [[human]]s on the scale of modern human [[evolution]]. Named for the site of its alleged discovery, Piltdown, England, the specimen was found by [[Charles Dawson]] in 1911. Consisting of portions of a human-like [[skull]] and an ape-like [[jaw]], the lone sample was presented to the world as a new [[species]], ''Eoanthropus dawsoni'', in 1912. It was not until the 1950s, when [[fluorine dating]] revealed a large discrepancy between the relative dates of the skull and the jaw, that the Piltdown Man was determined to be a forgery. | |||
Revision as of 13:43, 18 January 2009
The Piltdown Hoax was a paleoanthropological controversy involving the falsification of a fossil specimen to provide the missing link between apes and humans on the scale of modern human evolution. Named for the site of its alleged discovery, Piltdown, England, the specimen was found by Charles Dawson in 1911. Consisting of portions of a human-like skull and an ape-like jaw, the lone sample was presented to the world as a new species, Eoanthropus dawsoni, in 1912. It was not until the 1950s, when fluorine dating revealed a large discrepancy between the relative dates of the skull and the jaw, that the Piltdown Man was determined to be a forgery.