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Piltdown Man
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Piltdown Man
An illustration of The earliest known inhabitant of England, based upon the fragments of skull and jawbone supposedly discovered in a gravel pit at Piltdown, East Sussex, England. Considered at the time to be the missing link between ape and man, some scientists doubted that it was what it was purported to be. In 1953 it was proved to be a hoax, a combination of the skull of a medieval man, the jaw of an orangutan, and chimpanzee teeth. Date: December 1912
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Media ID 14122287
© Illustrated London News Ltd/Mary Evans
Dawson Fake Forgery Gravel Jawbone Link Missing Piltdown Prehistoric Skull
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EDITORS COMMENTS
This illustration depicts the Piltdown Man, the earliest known inhabitant of England as it was believed to have been discovered in December 1912 from a gravel pit in Piltdown, East Sussex. The Piltdown Man was purported to be the long-sought-after missing link between apes and humans. The fragments of skull and jawbone, which were unearthed by amateur archaeologist Charles Dawson, were hailed as a groundbreaking discovery in the world of prehistoric studies. However, doubts about the authenticity of the Piltdown Man began to surface as early as the 1930s, and in 1953, it was finally proven to be a forgery. The skull was found to be that of a medieval man, while the jawbone was identified as belonging to an orangutan, and the teeth were determined to be from a chimpanzee. The discovery was a significant blow to the scientific community, as it had been widely accepted as evidence of early human evolution in Europe. Despite the revelation of the Piltdown Man hoax, the discovery continues to hold historical significance as a cautionary tale in the field of archaeology and the importance of rigorous scientific inquiry. The Piltdown Man remains an intriguing chapter in the history of human evolution, serving as a reminder of the importance of skepticism and the dangers of jumping to conclusions based on incomplete evidence.
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