The Piltdown Hoax | Biology

<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en" dir="ltr"> <head>  <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="ie=edge"> <meta charset="utf-8"> <base href="https://www.visionlearning.com"> <title>The Piltdown Hoax | Biology | Visionlearning</title> <link rel="canonical" href="https://www.visionlearning.com/en/library/biology/2/the-piltdown-hoax/263"> <meta name="description" content="The Piltdown Man was once hailed as the missing link in the evolution of apes to humans. However, the discovery at Piltdown - human skull fragments, ancient mammal bones, and archaic tools - was an elaborate hoax. The deception took a long time to be revealed due to errors by the discoverers. They succumbed to confirmation bias by accepting any evidence that supported their discovery and rejecting any contradictory evidence."> <meta name="keywords" content="Piltdown hoax, Piltdown, hoax, confirmation bias, evolution, human"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0, shrink-to-fit=no"> <meta name="msvalidate.01" content="D8E20F39AD48052260032E56DE409970"> <script type="application/ld+json"> { "@context": "http://schema.org/", "@type": "Article", "mainEntityOfPage": { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://visionlearning.com/en/library/biology/2/the-piltdown-hoax/263" }, "name": "The Piltdown Hoax", "headline": "The Piltdown Hoax: A lesson on confirmation bias in science", "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Warmflash, MD" } , { "@type": "Person", "name": "Nathan H Lents, Ph.D." }], "datePublished": "2017-11-02 16:44:48", "dateModified": "2017-02-12T08:30:00+05:00", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "/img/library/moduleImages/featured_image_263-23061209063357.jpg", "width": 696, "height": 464 }, "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Visionlearning, Inc.", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "http://visionlearning.com/images/logo.png", "width": 278, "height": 60 } }, "description": "The Piltdown Man was once hailed as the missing link in the evolution of apes to humans. However, the discovery at Piltdown - human skull fragments, ancient mammal bones, and archaic tools - was an elaborate hoax. The deception took a long time to be revealed due to errors by the discoverers. They succumbed to confirmation bias by accepting any evidence that supported their discovery and rejecting any contradictory evidence.", "keywords": "Piltdown hoax, Piltdown, hoax, confirmation bias, evolution, human", "inLanguage": { "@type": "Language", "name": "English", "alternateName": "en" }, "copyrightHolder": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Visionlearning, Inc." }, "copyrightYear": "2017"} </script> <meta property="og:url" content="https://visionlearning.com/en/library/biology/2/the-piltdown-hoax/263"> <meta property="og:title" content="The Piltdown Hoax | Biology | Visionlearning" /> <meta property="og:type" content="website"> <meta property="og:site_name" content="Visionlearning"> <meta property="og:description" content="The Piltdown Man was once hailed as the missing link in the evolution of apes to humans. However, the discovery at Piltdown - human skull fragments, ancient mammal bones, and archaic tools - was an elaborate hoax. The deception took a long time to be revealed due to errors by the discoverers. 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Services</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/environmental-science/61/population-biology/287">Population Biology</a></li> </ul> </div> <button class="accordion__button" id="acc-button-earth-cycles" data-accordion="button" aria-controls="acc-panel-earth-cycles" aria-expanded="false"> <span class="accordion__button__label"> Earth Cycles </span> </button> <div class="accordion__panel" id="acc-panel-earth-cycles" data-accordion="panel" aria-labelledby="acc-button-earth-cycles" role="region"> <ul class="nav text-color-link"> <li><a href="/en/library/environmental-science/61/the-nitrogen-cycle/98">The Nitrogen Cycle</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/environmental-science/61/the-carbon-cycle/95">The Carbon Cycle</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/environmental-science/61/the-phosphorus-cycle/197">The Phosphorus Cycle</a></li> </ul> </div> <button class="accordion__button" id="acc-button-scientific-research" data-accordion="button" aria-controls="acc-panel-scientific-research" aria-expanded="false"> <span class="accordion__button__label"> Scientific Research </span> </button> <div class="accordion__panel" id="acc-panel-scientific-research" data-accordion="panel" aria-labelledby="acc-button-scientific-research" role="region"> <ul class="nav text-color-link"> <li><a href="/en/library/environmental-science/61/collaborative-research-in-the-arctic-towards-understanding-climate-change/183">Collaborative Research in the Arctic Towards Understanding Climate Change</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/environmental-science/61/atmospheric-chemistry-research-that-changed-global-policy/211">Atmospheric Chemistry Research that Changed Global Policy</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> <button class="accordion__button" id="acc-button-general-science" data-accordion="button" aria-controls="acc-panel-general-science" aria-expanded="false"> <span class="accordion__button__label"> General Science </span> </button> <div class="accordion__panel" id="acc-panel-general-science" data-accordion="panel" aria-labelledby="acc-button-general-science" role="region"> <div class="accordion accordion--secondary"> <button class="accordion__button" id="acc-button-methods" data-accordion="button" aria-controls="acc-panel-methods" aria-expanded="false"> <span class="accordion__button__label"> Methods </span> </button> <div class="accordion__panel" id="acc-panel-methods" data-accordion="panel" aria-labelledby="acc-button-methods" role="region"> <ul class="nav text-color-link"> <li><a href="/en/library/general-science/3/the-scientific-method/45">The Scientific Method</a></li> </ul> </div> <button class="accordion__button" id="acc-button-measurement" data-accordion="button" aria-controls="acc-panel-measurement" aria-expanded="false"> <span class="accordion__button__label"> Measurement </span> </button> <div class="accordion__panel" id="acc-panel-measurement" data-accordion="panel" aria-labelledby="acc-button-measurement" role="region"> <ul class="nav text-color-link"> <li><a href="/en/library/general-science/3/the-metric-system/47">The Metric System</a></li> </ul> </div> <button class="accordion__button" id="acc-button-physical-properties" data-accordion="button" aria-controls="acc-panel-physical-properties" aria-expanded="false"> <span class="accordion__button__label"> Physical Properties </span> </button> <div class="accordion__panel" id="acc-panel-physical-properties" data-accordion="panel" aria-labelledby="acc-button-physical-properties" role="region"> <ul class="nav text-color-link"> <li><a href="/en/library/general-science/3/temperature/48">Temperature</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/general-science/3/density-and-buoyancy/37">Density and Buoyancy</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> <button class="accordion__button" id="acc-button-math-in-science" data-accordion="button" aria-controls="acc-panel-math-in-science" aria-expanded="false"> <span class="accordion__button__label"> Math in Science </span> </button> <div class="accordion__panel" 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href="/en/library/math-in-science/62/scientific-notation/250">Scientific Notation</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/math-in-science/62/measurement/257">Measurement</a></li> </ul> </div> <button class="accordion__button" id="acc-button-statistics" data-accordion="button" aria-controls="acc-panel-statistics" aria-expanded="false"> <span class="accordion__button__label"> Statistics </span> </button> <div class="accordion__panel" id="acc-panel-statistics" data-accordion="panel" aria-labelledby="acc-button-statistics" role="region"> <ul class="nav text-color-link"> <li><a href="/en/library/math-in-science/62/introduction-to-descriptive-statistics/218">Introduction to Descriptive Statistics</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/math-in-science/62/introduction-to-inferential-statistics/224">Introduction to Inferential Statistics</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/math-in-science/62/statistical-techniques/239">Statistical Techniques</a></li> </ul> </div> <button class="accordion__button" id="acc-button-trigonometric-functions" data-accordion="button" aria-controls="acc-panel-trigonometric-functions" aria-expanded="false"> <span class="accordion__button__label"> Trigonometric Functions </span> </button> <div class="accordion__panel" id="acc-panel-trigonometric-functions" data-accordion="panel" aria-labelledby="acc-button-trigonometric-functions" role="region"> <ul class="nav text-color-link"> <li><a href="/en/library/math-in-science/62/wave-mathematics/131">Wave Mathematics</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> <button class="accordion__button" id="acc-button-physics" data-accordion="button" aria-controls="acc-panel-physics" aria-expanded="false"> <span class="accordion__button__label"> Physics </span> </button> <div class="accordion__panel" id="acc-panel-physics" data-accordion="panel" aria-labelledby="acc-button-physics" role="region"> <div class="accordion accordion--secondary"> <button class="accordion__button" id="acc-button-light-and-optics" data-accordion="button" aria-controls="acc-panel-light-and-optics" aria-expanded="false"> <span class="accordion__button__label"> Light and Optics </span> </button> <div class="accordion__panel" id="acc-panel-light-and-optics" data-accordion="panel" aria-labelledby="acc-button-light-and-optics" role="region"> <ul class="nav text-color-link"> <li><a href="/en/library/physics/24/the-nature-of-light/132">The Nature of Light</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/physics/24/electromagnetism-and-light/138">Electromagnetism and Light</a></li> </ul> </div> <button class="accordion__button" id="acc-button-mechanics" data-accordion="button" aria-controls="acc-panel-mechanics" aria-expanded="false"> <span class="accordion__button__label"> Mechanics </span> </button> <div class="accordion__panel" id="acc-panel-mechanics" data-accordion="panel" aria-labelledby="acc-button-mechanics" role="region"> <ul class="nav text-color-link"> <li><a href="/en/library/physics/24/defining-energy/199">Defining Energy</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/physics/24/waves-and-wave-motion/102">Waves and Wave Motion</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/physics/24/gravity/118">Gravity</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/physics/24/thermodynamics-i/200">Thermodynamics I</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> <button class="accordion__button" id="acc-button-process-of-science" data-accordion="button" aria-controls="acc-panel-process-of-science" aria-expanded="false"> <span class="accordion__button__label"> Process of Science </span> </button> <div class="accordion__panel" id="acc-panel-process-of-science" data-accordion="panel" aria-labelledby="acc-button-process-of-science" role="region"> <div class="accordion accordion--secondary"> <button class="accordion__button" id="acc-button-introduction" data-accordion="button" aria-controls="acc-panel-introduction" aria-expanded="false"> <span class="accordion__button__label"> Introduction </span> </button> <div class="accordion__panel" id="acc-panel-introduction" data-accordion="panel" aria-labelledby="acc-button-introduction" role="region"> <ul class="nav text-color-link"> <li><a href="/en/library/process-of-science/49/the-process-of-science/176">The Process of Science</a></li> </ul> </div> <button class="accordion__button" id="acc-button-the-culture-of-science" data-accordion="button" aria-controls="acc-panel-the-culture-of-science" aria-expanded="false"> <span class="accordion__button__label"> The Culture of Science </span> </button> <div class="accordion__panel" id="acc-panel-the-culture-of-science" data-accordion="panel" aria-labelledby="acc-button-the-culture-of-science" role="region"> <ul class="nav text-color-link"> <li><a href="/en/library/process-of-science/49/the-nature-of-scientific-knowledge/185">The Nature of Scientific Knowledge</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/process-of-science/49/scientists-and-the-scientific-community/172">Scientists and the Scientific Community</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/process-of-science/49/scientific-ethics/161">Scientific Ethics</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/process-of-science/49/scientific-institutions-and-societies/162">Scientific Institutions and Societies</a></li> </ul> </div> <button class="accordion__button" id="acc-button-ideas-in-science" data-accordion="button" aria-controls="acc-panel-ideas-in-science" aria-expanded="false"> <span class="accordion__button__label"> Ideas in Science </span> </button> <div class="accordion__panel" id="acc-panel-ideas-in-science" data-accordion="panel" aria-labelledby="acc-button-ideas-in-science" role="region"> <ul class="nav text-color-link"> <li><a href="/en/library/process-of-science/49/theories-hypotheses-and-laws/177">Theories, Hypotheses, and Laws</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/process-of-science/49/scientific-controversy/181">Scientific Controversy</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/process-of-science/49/creativity-in-science/182">Creativity in Science</a></li> </ul> </div> <button class="accordion__button" id="acc-button-research-methods" data-accordion="button" aria-controls="acc-panel-research-methods" aria-expanded="false"> <span class="accordion__button__label"> Research Methods </span> </button> <div class="accordion__panel" id="acc-panel-research-methods" data-accordion="panel" aria-labelledby="acc-button-research-methods" role="region"> <ul class="nav text-color-link"> <li><a href="/en/library/process-of-science/49/the-practice-of-science/148">The Practice of Science</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/process-of-science/49/experimentation-in-scientific-research/150">Experimentation in Scientific Research</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/process-of-science/49/description-in-scientific-research/151">Description in Scientific Research</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/process-of-science/49/comparison-in-scientific-research/152">Comparison in Scientific Research</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/process-of-science/49/modeling-in-scientific-research/153">Modeling in Scientific Research</a></li> </ul> </div> <button class="accordion__button" id="acc-button-data" data-accordion="button" aria-controls="acc-panel-data" aria-expanded="false"> <span class="accordion__button__label"> Data </span> </button> <div class="accordion__panel" id="acc-panel-data" data-accordion="panel" aria-labelledby="acc-button-data" role="region"> <ul class="nav text-color-link"> <li><a href="/en/library/process-of-science/49/data-analysis-and-interpretation/154">Data Analysis and Interpretation</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/process-of-science/49/uncertainty-error-and-confidence/157">Uncertainty, Error, and Confidence</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/process-of-science/49/statistics-in-science/155">Statistics in Science</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/process-of-science/49/using-graphs-and-visual-data-in-science/156">Using Graphs and Visual Data in Science</a></li> </ul> </div> <button class="accordion__button" id="acc-button-scientific-communication" data-accordion="button" aria-controls="acc-panel-scientific-communication" aria-expanded="false"> <span class="accordion__button__label"> Scientific Communication </span> </button> <div class="accordion__panel" id="acc-panel-scientific-communication" data-accordion="panel" aria-labelledby="acc-button-scientific-communication" role="region"> <ul class="nav text-color-link"> <li><a href="/en/library/process-of-science/49/understanding-scientific-journals-and-articles/158">Understanding Scientific Journals and Articles</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/process-of-science/49/utilizing-the-scientific-literature/173">Utilizing the Scientific Literature</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/process-of-science/49/peer-review-in-scientific-publishing/159">Peer Review in Scientific Publishing</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/process-of-science/49/the-how-and-why-of-scientific-meetings/186">The How and Why of Scientific Meetings</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> <button class="accordion__button" id="acc-button-scientists-and-research" data-accordion="button" aria-controls="acc-panel-scientists-and-research" aria-expanded="false"> <span class="accordion__button__label"> Scientists and Research </span> </button> <div class="accordion__panel" id="acc-panel-scientists-and-research" data-accordion="panel" aria-labelledby="acc-button-scientists-and-research" role="region"> <div class="accordion accordion--secondary"> <button class="accordion__button" id="acc-button-scientific-research" data-accordion="button" aria-controls="acc-panel-scientific-research" aria-expanded="false"> <span class="accordion__button__label"> Scientific Research </span> </button> <div class="accordion__panel" id="acc-panel-scientific-research" data-accordion="panel" aria-labelledby="acc-button-scientific-research" role="region"> <ul class="nav text-color-link"> <li><a href="/en/library/scientists-and-research/58/collaborative-research-in-the-arctic-towards-understanding-climate-change/183">Collaborative Research in the Arctic Towards Understanding Climate Change</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/scientists-and-research/58/from-stable-chromosomes-to-jumping-genes/184">From Stable Chromosomes to Jumping Genes</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/scientists-and-research/58/an-elegant-experiment-to-test-the-process-of-dna-replication/187">An Elegant Experiment to Test the Process of DNA Replication</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/scientists-and-research/58/the-founding-of-neuroscience/233">The Founding of Neuroscience</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/scientists-and-research/58/tracking-endangered-jaguars-across-the-border/189">Tracking Endangered Jaguars across the Border</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/scientists-and-research/58/atmospheric-chemistry-research-that-changed-global-policy/211">Atmospheric Chemistry Research that Changed Global Policy</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/scientists-and-research/58/revolutionizing-medicine-with-monoclonal-antibodies/220">Revolutionizing Medicine with Monoclonal Antibodies</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/scientists-and-research/58/uncovering-the-mysteries-of-chronic-mountain-sickness/238">Uncovering the Mysteries of Chronic Mountain Sickness</a></li> </ul> </div> <button class="accordion__button" id="acc-button-profiles-in-science" data-accordion="button" aria-controls="acc-panel-profiles-in-science" aria-expanded="false"> <span class="accordion__button__label"> Profiles in Science </span> </button> <div class="accordion__panel" id="acc-panel-profiles-in-science" data-accordion="panel" aria-labelledby="acc-button-profiles-in-science" role="region"> <ul class="nav text-color-link"> <li><a href="/en/library/scientists-and-research/58/luis-e.-miramontes/232">Luis E. Miramontes</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/scientists-and-research/58/bernardo-houssay/237">Bernardo Houssay</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/scientists-and-research/58/craig-lee/256">Craig Lee</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/scientists-and-research/58/david-ho/241">David Ho</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/scientists-and-research/58/louis-tompkins-wright/244">Louis Tompkins Wright</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/scientists-and-research/58/carlos-j.-finlay/217">Carlos J. Finlay</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/scientists-and-research/58/cecilia-payne/290">Cecilia Payne</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/scientists-and-research/58/jazmin-scarlett/291">Jazmin Scarlett</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/scientists-and-research/58/ramari-stewart/292">Ramari Stewart</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/scientists-and-research/58/johnson-cerda/300">Johnson Cerda</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/scientists-and-research/58/ellen-ochoa/201">Ellen Ochoa</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/scientists-and-research/58/ruth-benerito/205">Ruth Benerito</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/scientists-and-research/58/franklin-chang-díaz/219">Franklin Chang Díaz</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/scientists-and-research/58/percy-lavon-julian/221">Percy Lavon Julian</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/scientists-and-research/58/luis-walter-alvarez/229">Luis Walter Alvarez</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/scientists-and-research/58/france-anne-dominic-córdova/230">France Anne-Dominic Córdova</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </li> <li>  <button class="button" data-toggle="dropdown">Biology </button> <div class="nav__dropdown box-shadow-1 padding-1"> <div class="accordion accordion--secondary font-size-sm"> <div class="accordion accordion--secondary"> <button class="accordion__button" id="acc-sub-button-biological-molecules" data-accordion="button" aria-controls="acc-sub-panel-biological-molecules" aria-expanded="false"> <span class="accordion__button__label"> Biological Molecules </span> </button> <div class="accordion__panel" id="acc-sub-panel-biological-molecules" data-accordion="panel" aria-labelledby="acc-sub-button-biological-molecules" role="region"> <ul class="nav text-color-link"> <li><a href="/en/library/biology/2/carbohydrates/61">Carbohydrates</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/biology/2/fats-and-proteins/62">Fats and Proteins</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/biology/2/biological-proteins/243">Biological Proteins</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/biology/2/blood-biology-i/242">Blood Biology I</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/biology/2/lipids/207">Lipids</a></li> </ul> </div> <button class="accordion__button" id="acc-sub-button-cell-biology" data-accordion="button" aria-controls="acc-sub-panel-cell-biology" aria-expanded="false"> <span class="accordion__button__label"> Cell Biology </span> </button> <div class="accordion__panel" id="acc-sub-panel-cell-biology" data-accordion="panel" aria-labelledby="acc-sub-button-cell-biology" role="region"> <ul class="nav text-color-link"> <li><a href="/en/library/biology/2/discovery-and-structure-of-cells/64">Discovery and Structure of Cells</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/biology/2/respiration/285">Respiration</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/biology/2/membranes-i/198">Membranes I</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/biology/2/membranes-ii/204">Membranes II</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/biology/2/cellular-organelles-i/195">Cellular Organelles I</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/biology/2/cell-division-i/196">Cell Division I</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/biology/2/cell-division-ii/212">Cell Division II</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/biology/2/membranes-and-chemical-transport/106">Membranes and Chemical Transport</a></li> </ul> </div> <button class="accordion__button" id="acc-sub-button-energy-in-living-systems" data-accordion="button" aria-controls="acc-sub-panel-energy-in-living-systems" aria-expanded="false"> <span class="accordion__button__label"> Energy in Living Systems </span> </button> <div class="accordion__panel" id="acc-sub-panel-energy-in-living-systems" data-accordion="panel" aria-labelledby="acc-sub-button-energy-in-living-systems" role="region"> <ul class="nav text-color-link"> <li><a href="/en/library/biology/2/energy-metabolism-i/215">Energy Metabolism I</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/biology/2/energy-metabolism-ii/225">Energy Metabolism II</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/biology/2/photosynthesis-i/192">Photosynthesis I</a></li> </ul> </div> <button class="accordion__button" id="acc-sub-button-evolutionary-biology" data-accordion="button" aria-controls="acc-sub-panel-evolutionary-biology" aria-expanded="false"> <span class="accordion__button__label"> Evolutionary Biology </span> </button> <div class="accordion__panel" id="acc-sub-panel-evolutionary-biology" data-accordion="panel" aria-labelledby="acc-sub-button-evolutionary-biology" role="region"> <ul class="nav text-color-link"> <li><a href="/en/library/biology/2/origins-of-life-i/226">Origins of Life I</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/biology/2/origins-of-life-ii/227">Origins of Life II</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/biology/2/extinction/295">Extinction</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/biology/2/mass-extinctions/294">Mass Extinctions</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/biology/2/charles-darwin-i/110">Charles Darwin I</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/biology/2/charles-darwin-ii/111">Charles Darwin II</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/biology/2/charles-darwin-iii/112">Charles Darwin III</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/biology/2/adaptation/68">Adaptation</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/biology/2/taxonomy-i/70">Taxonomy I</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/biology/2/taxonomy-ii/89">Taxonomy II</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/biology/2/introduction-to-paleoanthropology/258">Introduction to Paleoanthropology</a></li> <li class="current">The Piltdown Hoax</li> <li><a href="/en/library/biology/2/future-of-human-evolution/259">Future of Human Evolution</a></li> </ul> </div> <button class="accordion__button" id="acc-sub-button-genetics" data-accordion="button" aria-controls="acc-sub-panel-genetics" aria-expanded="false"> <span class="accordion__button__label"> Genetics </span> </button> <div class="accordion__panel" id="acc-sub-panel-genetics" data-accordion="panel" aria-labelledby="acc-sub-button-genetics" 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aria-labelledby="acc-sub-button-ecology" role="region"> <ul class="nav text-color-link"> <li><a href="/en/library/biology/2/biodiversity-i/276">Biodiversity I</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/biology/2/ecosystem-services/279">Ecosystem Services</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/biology/2/animal-ecology/283">Animal Ecology</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/biology/2/biodiversity-ii/281">Biodiversity II</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/biology/2/animal-behavior/286">Animal Behavior</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/biology/2/population-biology/287">Population Biology</a></li> <li><a href="/en/library/biology/2/trophic-ecology/293">Trophic Ecology</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </li> </ul> </nav>  <div id="theTop"></div> <main id="skip-header-content"> <div class="margin-bottom-5"> <article class="container wide module"> <header class="grid grid--sidebar-right module__header"> <div class="module__header__title"> <span class="subcategory"> <strong><em>Evolutionary Biology</em></strong> </span> <h1>The Piltdown Hoax: <sub><em>A lesson on confirmation bias in science</em></sub></h1> <p class="byline">by David Warmflash, MD, Nathan H Lents, Ph.D.</p> <nav class="module__header__tabs"> <ul class="tabs-nav tabs-nav--horizontal library"> <li> <a href="/en/library/biology/2/the-piltdown-hoax/263/reading" aria-current="page" >Reading</a> </li> <li> <a href="/en/library/biology/2/the-piltdown-hoax/263/quiz">Quiz</a> </li> <li> <a href="/en/library/biology/2/the-piltdown-hoax/263/resources">Teach with this</a> </li> </ul> </nav> </div> </header> <hr class="divider"/>   <div class="grid grid--sidebar-right grid--divider"> <div class="order-2 order-1--lg module__main"> <div class="narrow margin-x-auto margin-y-5"> <div class="accordion margin-bottom-5">  <button class="accordion__button" id="acc-button-key-concepts" data-accordion="button" aria-controls="acc-panel-key-concepts" aria-expanded="true" tabindex="0"> Did you know? </button> <div class="accordion__panel shown show" id="acc-panel-key-concepts" data-accordion="panel" aria-labelledby="acc-button-key-concepts" role="region"> <div class="accordion__panel__content"> <p>Did you know that the Piltdown Man hoax inspired the development of various scientific tests for authenticating paleoanthropological specimens? From the 1960s onward, scientists developed methods for more accurately finding both the date and geography of origin for materials.</p> </div> </div>  <button class="accordion__button" id="acc-button-table-of-contents" data-accordion="button" aria-controls="acc-panel-table-of-contents" aria-expanded="false" tabindex="0"> Key concepts </button> <div class="accordion__panel" id="acc-panel-table-of-contents" data-accordion="panel" aria-labelledby="acc-button-table-of-contents" role="region" aria-hidden="true"> <div class="accordion__panel__content"> <ul class="bulleted"> <li><p>Confirmation bias is the tendency to accept any evidence that seems to support one’s belief while rejecting all evidence that is contrary.</p></li> <li><p>The 1912 discovery of Piltdown Man was widely hailed as the discovery of the "missing link" between humans and apes, but was really an elaborate deception.</p></li> <li><p>The hoax perpetrator buried ancient animal bones, flint tools, and both human and ape skull fragments in the English town Piltdown.</p></li> <li><p>The discoverers of the Piltdown Man were so enthusiastic about their findings that they ignored contradictory evidence and failed to carefully test the bones.</p></li> <li><p>By the 1940s the scientific community were skeptical of the Piltdown discovery and it was officially declared a hoax in 1953.</p></li> </ul> </div> </div>  <button class="accordion__button" id="acc-button-terms-you-should-know" data-accordion="button" aria-controls="acc-panel-terms-you-should-know" aria-expanded="false" tabindex="0"> Terms you should know </button> <div class="accordion__panel" id="acc-panel-terms-you-should-know" data-accordion="panel" aria-labelledby="acc-button-terms-you-should-know" role="region" aria-hidden="true"> <div class="accordion__panel__content"> <dl> <dt><a href="/en/glossary/view/controversy">controversy </a></dt> <dd> an argument, disagreement, or difference of opinion that involves many people </dd> <dt>hoax </dt> <dd> something intended to deceive or fraud the public </dd> <dt><a href="/en/glossary/view/species">species </a></dt> <dd> a distinct variety of animal or plant that can produce offspring among its kind</dd> </dl> </div> </div> </div> <hr class="border-color-dark" /> <section> <div class="container narrow"> <p>Scientists are supposed to be dispassionate professionals. We see them as thoughtful skeptics, seekers of truth, speaking about nature as science reveals it, even when the revelations differ from what we imagined, or from what we may have wished to be true. The truth is that scientists do have passions. They are people with dreams, ambitions, and preconceptions. They want certain things to be true, and certain things to be false, just like anybody else.</p> <p>Science has evolved to compensate. At <mark class="term" data-term="conference" data-term-def="A large, formal meeting where many people gather for a particular purpose, such as to talk about research in a certain&hellip;" data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/conference/8248">conferences</mark>, scientists ask questions of one another and <mark class="term" data-term="debate" data-term-def="A reasoned discussion of opposing points in an argument." data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/debate/8242">debate</mark> (Figure 1), plus there is a <mark class="term" data-term="process" data-term-def="Method, procedure; series of actions or steps." data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/process/8256">process</mark> of formal peer-review. To be published, papers must be assessed by multiple researchers to look for bias, to assure that <mark class="term" data-term="data" data-term-def="(plural form of <b>datum</b>) A collection of pieces of information, generally taking the form of numbers, text, bits, or facts, that&hellip;" data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/data/3729">data</mark> support the author’s assertions, and have gone through appropriate statistical <mark class="term" data-term="analysis" data-term-def="The careful study of data to look for patterns." data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/analysis/8553">analysis</mark>. (For more information, see our <a href="/library/module_viewer.php?mid=159">Peer Review in Scientific Publishing</a> module.) <mark class="term" data-term="experiment" data-term-def="A test or trial carried out under controlled conditions so that specific actions can be performed and the results can be observed." data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/experiment/8292">Experiments</mark> and other work must be described in sufficient detail as to be repeatable by other researchers. Finally, any specimens, physical and biological, must be examined and tested thoroughly so that all assertions are based on incontrovertible data.</p> <div class="figure"> <figure> <button class="lightbox-button lightbox-button--icon" data-lightbox=""> <img src="/img/library/modules/mid263/Image/VLObject-11815-171029051022.jpg" alt="Figure 1: A meeting of the American Geophysical Union where researchers present and discuss their findings." /> </button> <figcaption> <p><strong>Figure 1</strong>: A meeting of the American Geophysical Union where researchers present and discuss their findings.</p> <span class="credit">image ©NASA Ames</span> </figcaption> </figure> </div> <p>Generally, the <mark class="term" data-term="process" data-term-def="Method, procedure; series of actions or steps." data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/process/8256">process</mark> works well for identifying unwitting errors, such as flaws in <mark class="term" data-term="methodology" data-term-def="A set of procedures or methods of inquiry used in a particular field of study." data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/methodology/8564">methodology</mark> or inadequate <mark class="term" data-term="statistic" data-term-def="In statistics, a statistic is a numerical value that represents a characteristic of a subsample selected from a larger statistical population.&hellip;" data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/statistic/9482">statistics</mark>, and also for exposing outright deception. But in the past, checks and balances in science were less strict, so it was possible to “cook data” and commit other fraudulent acts, thereby throwing the scientific community off-balance. Usually, people were misled just for a short time, but occasionally a hoax could remain hidden for years at a time. That’s what happened in the case of "Piltdown Man," a hoax that shook the world of science for four decades–partly, because it was so elaborate, but also because many scientists were so ripe to fall for it, especially in England, where the scheme was hatched.</p> <p><section id="toc_1" class=""> <h2>The perfect storm and the perfect hoax</h2></p> <p>The place was Sussex, England, in a rural town called Piltdown. Sometime in the early 1900s, somebody took human skull fragments and an orangutan mandible (jawbone), stained all items with a variety of chemical cocktails, and buried them in a gravel pit. The unknown person also filed the teeth in the mandible and excised apish features from the bone. The perpetrator obtained various mammal bones and teeth, some authentic specimens from the Pleistocene and Pliocene epochs of geologic time, and scattered them throughout the pit to make everything appear roughly 1 million years old. Finally, the perpetrator threw in some bogus flint tools, the master plan being to create the long-sought 'missing link' between humans and apes. (For a timeline of the Piltdown discoveries and important events, see Figure 2.)</p> <div class="figure"> <figure> <button class="lightbox-button lightbox-button--icon" data-lightbox="" data-lightbox-src="/img/library/large_images/image_11817.jpg"> <img src="/img/library/modules/mid263/Image/VLObject-11817-171102071147.jpg" alt="Figure 2: Piltdown excavation timeline, including the main events and discoveries." /> </button> <figcaption> <p><strong>Figure 2</strong>: Piltdown excavation timeline, including the main events and discoveries.</p> <span class="credit">image ©De Groote, I., et. al. (2016). R. open sci. DOI: 10.1098/rsos.160328</span> </figcaption> </figure> </div> <p>The plan worked for several reasons. To begin, the perpetrator knew what he was doing – lots of convincing "confirmatory evidence" was included with the hoax itself. Second, the idea of human <mark class="term" data-term="evolution" data-term-def="Change in the gene pool of a population from generation to generation by such processes as mutation, natural selection, and genetic drift." data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/evolution/5284">evolution</mark> from ape-like ancestors was fairly new and ideas were emerging and developing rapidly. <mark class="term" data-term="Charles Darwin" data-term-def="English naturalist and geologist born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire (1809-1882). While serving as naturalist aboard HMS Beagle, Darwin developed his theory of&hellip;" data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/Darwin%2C+Charles/4507">Charles Darwin</mark> had died just 30 years earlier. But most importantly, the Piltdown hoax was born in the midst of a perfect storm of events in and out of science. Notably, this involved the buildup to the First World War, which happened to overlap with discoveries of major import to paleoanthropology occurring in German lands, and elsewhere around the globe. </p><p>The people of England – including its scientists, both professional and amateur – really wanted a human ancestor that could compete with the discoveries of <mark class="term" data-term="extinction" data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/extinction" data-term-def="The complete and permanent loss of all individuals of a species of organism.">extinct</mark> human <mark class="term" data-term="species" data-term-def="1. In biological classifications, it is the lowest and most basic unit of the Linnaean taxonomic hierarchy (although it is also&hellip;" data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/species/893">species</mark> in Germany. They wanted a 'missing link' on English <mark class="term" data-term="soil" data-term-def="The loose top layer of Earth’s surface where plants grow, made up of particles of rocks, minerals, and organic material." data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/soil/8563">soil</mark> and they wanted it badly – so badly that they fell into the trap of <mark class="term" data-term="confirmation bias" data-term-def="The tendency to search for or interpret new information in a way that confirms one's preconceptions and avoid information and interpretations&hellip;" data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/confirmation+bias/4760">confirmation bias</mark>. This is the tendency to accept any <mark class="term" data-term="evidence" data-term-def="Support for an idea, opinion, or hypothesis." data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/evidence/8243">evidence</mark> that seems to support one’s belief while rejecting all evidence that is contrary.</p><p>You can find examples of <mark class="term" data-term="confirmation bias" data-term-def="The tendency to search for or interpret new information in a way that confirms one's preconceptions and avoid information and interpretations&hellip;" data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/confirmation+bias/4760">confirmation bias</mark> in everyday popular culture. Consider horoscopes, for instance, when a person is told that something will happen that day, then starts noticing occurrences that match the 'something' in one way or another, yet ignores how the same occurrences also match a different 'something' from somebody else’s horoscope. Imagine the consequences, though, when confirmation bias takes over discussions of a major issue in science. Furthermore, imagine that the bias is exacerbated by other social factors. In this case, a culture in one of Britain’s most eminent scientific institutions, where professional rivalry was fierce and where high profile success could lead to knighthood.</p> <div class="comprehension-checkpoint margin-y-4"> <h6 class="comprehension-checkpoint__header"> <span> <span class="icon icon-question"></span> </span> Comprehension Checkpoint </h6> <form class="" name="cc11809"> <div class="form-entry"> <div class="form-entry__field"> <span class="form-entry__field__label">Confirmation bias is when you _____ evidence that is contrary to one's belief.</span> <div class="form-entry__option"> <div class="form-entry__option__radio" data-answer="incorrect"> <label> <input id="q1-11809-0-option-a" name="quiz-option-11809" type="radio" value="accept" > <span class="option__label"> <span class="screen-reader-only">a.</span> accept </span> </label> <span class="quiz__response" id="response-11809-0"> <strong>Incorrect.</strong> </span> </div> <div class="form-entry__option__radio" data-answer="correct"> <label> <input id="q1-11809-1-option-b" name="quiz-option-11809" type="radio" value="reject" > <span class="option__label"> <span class="screen-reader-only">b.</span> reject </span> </label> <span class="quiz__response" id="response-11809-1"> <strong>Correct!</strong> </span> </div> </div> </div> </div> </form> </div> </section> <section id="toc_2"> <h2>A lawyer, a zoologist, and a priest walk into a gravel pit</h2><p>To get a feel for what transpired, we need to get a handle on some key players who emerged as the so-called 'Piltdown Man' entered the public scene. Charles Dawson was a solicitor around Sussex and also a passionate amateur archaeologist and collector of antiques. He wanted a place for himself in the academic world and constantly mingled with scientists. By the turn of the century, Dawson had built a reputation with some interesting finds, from ancient Chinese pottery to Roman artifacts. The latter included ceramic tile fragments that supported certain <mark class="term" data-term="hypothesis" data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/hypothesis" data-term-def="From the Greek word <em>hypothesis</em> meaning assumption or the basis of an argument, a hypothesis is a proposal intended to explain&hellip;">hypotheses</mark> about the Roman presence in Britain in late antiquity.</p><p>For an amateur, Dawson had a good amount of geological knowledge, especially with regard to Sussex, a region where Stone Age implements had been excavated in recent years, and where he traveled the roads to conduct legal work in different towns. Seeing some oddly-colored gravel near a farm led him to a pit that workers were excavating to fix a road. The gravel looked old, so Dawson asked the workers to save any bones, teeth, or other artifacts for him, should they find any in the course of the digging. According to Dawson, the workers eventually came across a fragmented, human-looking skull and gave it to him some time in 1908. The bones of the cranium – the part of the skull that held the brain – looked unusually thick, so he presumed the skull to be very ancient. He hoped it belonged to a human ancestral <mark class="term" data-term="species" data-term-def="1. In biological classifications, it is the lowest and most basic unit of the Linnaean taxonomic hierarchy (although it is also&hellip;" data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/species/893">species</mark>, one that could rival the Germans’ famous <mark class="term" data-term="Neanderthal" data-term-def="An extinct species of humans, <em>Homo neanderthalensis</em>, who lived from approximately 400,000 to 40,000 years ago" data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/Neanderthal/11407">Neanderthal</mark> man that had been known since the mid 19th century, and rival a newly discovered species in Germany called <em>Homo heidelbergensis</em> (Figure 3).</p> <div class="figure"> <figure> <button class="lightbox-button lightbox-button--icon" data-lightbox="" data-lightbox-src="/img/library/large_images/image_11818.jpg"> <img src="/img/library/modules/mid263/Image/VLObject-11818-171102071150.jpg" alt="Figure 3: A forensic facial reconstruction of Homo heidelbergensis." /> </button> <figcaption> <p><strong>Figure 3</strong>: A forensic facial reconstruction of <em>Homo heidelbergensis</em>.</p> <span class="credit">image ©Cicero Moraes</span> </figcaption> </figure> </div> <p>Dawson searched the gravel pit for more specimens and didn’t find any, but soon he met Teilhard de Chardin, a French priest-philosopher who also happened to be a trained geologist and paleontologist. In 1909, Dawson and de Chardin started searching the pit together and eventually found more pieces of the skull. In early 1911, they dug up one of the mammal <mark class="term" data-term="fossil" data-term-def="The preserved impression or remains of an animal or plant whose living tissue has been replaced by minerals." data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/fossil/8558">fossils</mark> that the hoaxer had planted – a large tooth that de Chardin thought was from an <mark class="term" data-term="extinction" data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/extinction" data-term-def="The complete and permanent loss of all individuals of a species of organism.">extinct</mark> hippopotamus, but they needed confirmation from a specialist. Dawson chose Arthur Smith Woodward, an eminent geologist and head of the paleontology department at London’s Natural History Museum. Smith Woodward looked at the tooth and agreed it was from an extinct, Pleistocene hippo. This excited him enough to join Dawson and de Chardin searching the pit.</p><p>In creating the hoax, the perpetrator had buried some 40 different pieces. Dawson and his two friends had unearthed most of the mammal <mark class="term" data-term="fossil" data-term-def="The preserved impression or remains of an animal or plant whose living tissue has been replaced by minerals." data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/fossil/8558">fossils</mark> and the flint tools by the middle of 1912. In their minds, this suggested that all of the specimens, including the skull, were several hundred thousand to a million years old. Then one day, while de Chardin was away in France, Dawson and Smith Woodward came across the orangutan mandible that, unbeknownst to them, the hoaxer had planted.</p><p>To realize that the jaw was from an ape, any anatomist would have looked at the part of the jaw that articulates with the rest of the skull. That’s because an ape jaw moves only up and down, whereas a human jaw also can move side to side, so the articulation is very different comparing apes and humans. But the articulating ends of this mandible were missing. Next, an anatomist would consider the chin region, but the one area on the chin that would have shown the mandible to be from an ape also was missing. Teeth also differ substantially between humans and apes, but the teeth on this mandible looked very worn, too warn to compare ape-human differences, plus their size looked intermediate between human and ape. (See Figure 4 for a comparison of human and ape jaws to the Piltdown Man artifact.)</p> <div class="figure"> <figure> <button class="lightbox-button lightbox-button--icon" data-lightbox="" data-lightbox-src="/img/library/large_images/image_11819.jpg"> <img src="/img/library/modules/mid263/Image/VLObject-11819-171102081103.jpg" alt="Figure 4: A comparison of the Piltdown Man jaw (B, center) to an orangutan jaw (A, bottom) and a modern human (C, top)." /> </button> <figcaption> <p><strong>Figure 4</strong>: A comparison of the Piltdown Man jaw (B, center) to an orangutan jaw (A, bottom) and a modern human (C, top).</p> <span class="credit">image ©Gregory, WK. (1825). The American Museum Journal</span> </figcaption> </figure> </div> <p>Though human <mark class="term" data-term="evolution" data-term-def="Change in the gene pool of a population from generation to generation by such processes as mutation, natural selection, and genetic drift." data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/evolution/5284">evolution</mark> was not his expertise, Smith Woodward ventured into this field, hypothesizing that both the skull and the mandible must be ancient – in which case, it seemed reasonable that both came from the same individual. If so, he was proposing the existence of a creature with a brain-size similar to a modern human, but with a jaw and teeth intermediate between human and ape.</p><p>Such an image was completely out of line with what we know today about the <mark class="term" data-term="transition" data-term-def="A change from one stage, form, or state to another." data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/transition/8520">transitions</mark> between humans and our ape-like ancestors. Today, we know that our ancestors walked upright first, and evolved large brains more much later, but in 1912 most paleoanthropologists thought the opposite. They thought that the brain had begun to grow while our ancestors had still walked like apes. Going along with this was an idea that the jaw lingered in <mark class="term" data-term="evolution" data-term-def="Change in the gene pool of a population from generation to generation by such processes as mutation, natural selection, and genetic drift." data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/evolution/5284">evolution</mark>, behind the brain.</p><p>So enthralled were paleoanthropologists in this idea of brain growth leading the way that they actually had succumbed to <mark class="term" data-term="confirmation bias" data-term-def="The tendency to search for or interpret new information in a way that confirms one's preconceptions and avoid information and interpretations&hellip;" data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/confirmation+bias/4760">confirmation bias</mark> already on earlier occasions. Notably, they had overlooked a key finding that would have supported the image of human <mark class="term" data-term="evolution" data-term-def="Change in the gene pool of a population from generation to generation by such processes as mutation, natural selection, and genetic drift." data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/evolution/5284">evolution</mark> that we have today. In Java in the 1890s, Dutch researcher Eugène Dubois had discovered <em>Homo erectus</em>, a <mark class="term" data-term="species" data-term-def="1. In biological classifications, it is the lowest and most basic unit of the Linnaean taxonomic hierarchy (although it is also&hellip;" data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/species/893">species</mark> that walked fully upright and with a brain-size intermediate between modern humans and apes. In fact, its brain case was not much smaller than that of <em>H. heidelbergensis</em>. This should have suggested a progression from <em>H. erectus</em> to <em>H . heidelbergensis</em> to modern humans, but most researchers at the turn of the 20th century ignored Dubois. (For the modern view on the timeline of human evolution, see Figure 5.)</p> <div class="figure"> <figure> <button class="lightbox-button lightbox-button--icon" data-lightbox="" data-lightbox-src="/img/library/large_images/image_11820.jpg"> <img src="/img/library/modules/mid263/Image/VLObject-11820-171102021146.jpg" alt="Figure 5: Estimated age of different humanoids and humans in the genera Ardipithecus, Australopithecus, and Homo." /> </button> <figcaption> <p><strong>Figure 5</strong>: Estimated age of different humanoids and humans in the genera <em>Ardipithecus</em>, <em>Australopithecus</em>, and <em>Homo</em>.</p> <span class="credit">image ©Conty</span> </figcaption> </figure> </div> <p>Indeed, Dubois’ finding was ignored to such an extent that Smith Woodward and Dawson may not even have known about it. Or at least they were not thinking about it as they considered the mandible freshly excavated, the skull from four years earlier, the flint tools, and the mammal bones that really were authentically ancient. In their minds, they had the 'missing link' and they were eager to show the world that the link was English – so eager that they failed to run certain tests that were well within Smith Woodward’s capability. He should have tested the skull and mandible for remnant <mark class="term" data-term="organic" data-term-def="Originating from a living organism; a compound that contains hydrocarbons." data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/organic/8530">organic</mark> material, for instance, by measuring the nitrogen content. This would not have revealed the precise age of the bones, but it would have shown at least that they were not hundreds of thousands of years old, thereby exposing the hoax. He also could have looked at the teeth with a magnifying glass, which would have shown the teeth had been filed. Avoiding such testing, he was essentially ignoring the possibility that bones from different time periods could have ended up in the same gravel pit, either by accident or by intention. This is another way that <mark class="term" data-term="confirmation bias" data-term-def="The tendency to search for or interpret new information in a way that confirms one's preconceptions and avoid information and interpretations&hellip;" data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/confirmation+bias/4760">confirmation bias</mark> plays out.</p> <div class="comprehension-checkpoint margin-y-4"> <h6 class="comprehension-checkpoint__header"> <span> <span class="icon icon-question"></span> </span> Comprehension Checkpoint </h6> <form class="" name="cc11813"> <div class="form-entry"> <div class="form-entry__field"> <span class="form-entry__field__label">At the time of the Piltdown Man discovery, paleoanthropologists thought our ancestors _____ first and then _____.</span> <div class="form-entry__option"> <div class="form-entry__option__radio" data-answer="incorrect"> <label> <input id="q1-11813-0-option-a" name="quiz-option-11813" type="radio" value="walked upright; evolved large brains" > <span class="option__label"> <span class="screen-reader-only">a.</span> walked upright; evolved large brains </span> </label> <span class="quiz__response" id="response-11813-0"> <strong>Incorrect.</strong> </span> </div> <div class="form-entry__option__radio" data-answer="correct"> <label> <input id="q1-11813-1-option-b" name="quiz-option-11813" type="radio" value="evolved large brains; walked upright" > <span class="option__label"> <span class="screen-reader-only">b.</span> evolved large brains; walked upright </span> </label> <span class="quiz__response" id="response-11813-1"> <strong>Correct!</strong> </span> </div> </div> </div> </div> </form> </div> </section> <section id="toc_3"> <h2>A patriotic missing link</h2><p>The public learned of the find on December 18, 1912, when Dawson and Smith Woodward presented the skull and mandible and other specimens from the gravel pit in a ceremony at the British Geological Society. Reporters were there, along with photographers, and the story took off. The new <mark class="term" data-term="species" data-term-def="1. In biological classifications, it is the lowest and most basic unit of the Linnaean taxonomic hierarchy (although it is also&hellip;" data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/species/893">species</mark> was nicknamed "the first Englishman" – and for a very political reason.</p><p>Britain and Germany were massing arms and propaganda and war was imminent. With <mark class="term" data-term="Neanderthal" data-term-def="An extinct species of humans, <em>Homo neanderthalensis</em>, who lived from approximately 400,000 to 40,000 years ago" data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/Neanderthal/11407">Neanderthal</mark> and <em>H. heidelbergensis</em> bones in Germany and elsewhere on the continent, the English wanted a piece of the action. The Piltdown <mark class="term" data-term="hypothesis" data-term-def="From the Greek word <em>hypothesis</em> meaning assumption or the basis of an argument, a hypothesis is a proposal intended to explain&hellip;" data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/hypothesis/3727">hypothesis</mark> was patriotic, and so the Piltdown discoverers were considered national heroes, especially Dawson since he had made the initial find of the skull. Consequently, the ancient 'species' was given the scientific name <em>Eoanthropus dawsoni</em>.</p><p>There were some skeptics right from the beginning. The absence of the articulating end of the mandible was a problem. At the Geological Association meeting, one anatomist and one dentist noted that the mandible was too apish and the cranium and face too human to belong to the same individual. Also, the wearing on the teeth did not make sense, neither in a human or ape, the dentist said. Nobody took the dentist seriously, but within several months critics were pointing out how a canine tooth was missing from the mandible, and that it might settle the case – if only one could be found.</p><p>It didn’t take so long. In late summer of 1913, Teilhard de Chardin, now back from France, found a canine tooth in the Piltdown gravel pit. Its size and shape matched the characteristics predicted for it, and now the skeptical voices were mostly silenced. But the magnitude of the <mark class="term" data-term="confirmation bias" data-term-def="The tendency to search for or interpret new information in a way that confirms one's preconceptions and avoid information and interpretations&hellip;" data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/confirmation+bias/4760">confirmation bias</mark> had yet to show itself in full force.</p></section> <section id="toc_4"> <h2>An anonymous confession?</h2><p>Perhaps worse than ignoring the oddly worn down teeth and the discovery of <em>H. erectus</em>, Dawson’s team, Smith Woodward in particular, failed to grasp the meaning of an object discovered under a hedge near the gravel pit in 1915, one of the last specimens to turn up at the Piltdown site. Carved from elephant bone in a pattern that could only be achieved with metal instruments, it had the form of a flattened, wide stick, narrowing on one side, presumably where it was supposed to be held. Pretty much anyone who looks at it in modern times draws the same conclusion: it looks like a cricket bat (Figure 6).</p> <div class="figure"> <figure> <button class="lightbox-button lightbox-button--icon" data-lightbox="" data-lightbox-src="/img/library/large_images/image_11821.jpg"> <img src="/img/library/modules/mid263/Image/VLObject-11821-171102041123.jpg" alt="Figure 6: The artifacts retrieved from the Piltdown site, including the (a) bone implement (also known as 'the cricket bat'), (b) an eolith, (d) palaeolith, and (c) fragments of Mastodon (e) and horse teeth." /> </button> <figcaption> <p><strong>Figure 6</strong>: The artifacts retrieved from the Piltdown site, including the (a) bone implement (also known as 'the cricket bat'), (b) an eolith, (d) palaeolith, and (c) fragments of Mastodon (e) and horse teeth.</p> <span class="credit">image ©Dean, C., De Groote, I., & Stringer, C. (2015). Geo. Soc. of London. https://doi.org/10.1144/SP430.3</span> </figcaption> </figure> </div> <p>Somebody – either the hoaxer or someone who suspected the hoax and wanted to expose it – created the object as a kind of punchline. The missing link was not only the first Englishman but also the first cricket player. During the debunking of the hoax in the early 1950s, there was chatter in the Museum regarding who could have perpetrated the hoax in the first place, and regarding who was suspicious that there might be a hoax. In both cases, the name Martin Hinton figured prominently. Hinton was a zoologist and <mark class="term" data-term="fossil" data-term-def="The preserved impression or remains of an animal or plant whose living tissue has been replaced by minerals." data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/fossil/8558">fossil</mark> authenticator at the museum. He was also a notorious practical joker who had a falling out with Smith Woodward over a money issue, so there’s a considerable amount of speculation that the cricket bat was Hinton’s work. Letters written by Hinton and American colleague suggest that Hinton suspected the Piltdown site was a scam and Dawson to be a fraud. Seeing his rival, Smith Woodward, put such effort into Piltdown and was building fame from it (Smith Woodward would eventually be knighted for his scientific contributions and continue digging at the Piltdown site for another 20 years), perhaps Hinton planted the Stone Age cricket bat to blow the lid on the hoax, thereby rendering Smith Woodward the ultimate embarrassment.</p><p>But if that was the intention, it backfired. Missing the punchline entirely, Smith Woodward and Dawson published a scientific paper hypothesizing the specimen to be some kind of bone tool invented by <em>E. dawsoni</em> for some unknown Stone Age use. It may seem incredible, but that’s how strong the <mark class="term" data-term="confirmation bias" data-term-def="The tendency to search for or interpret new information in a way that confirms one's preconceptions and avoid information and interpretations&hellip;" data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/confirmation+bias/4760">confirmation bias</mark> was for Piltdown Man and by this time the First World War was in full swing, so anything that helped Piltdown helped the image of Britain.</p></section> <section id="toc_5"> <h2>Piltdown Man reigns through the 1920s</h2><p>In 1916, Dawson died, but prior to his death, he told Woodward about a second skull he’d discovered recently at a site about 3 kilometers from the gravel pit. There was no mandible to go with rest of the skull this time, but there was a tooth, which resembled the teeth of the other skull. Of course, it did, for it too had been filed down. Smith Woodward presented the second skull to the world in 1917. This pretty much silenced any remaining murmurs of skepticism, despite the fact that no one knew the exact location of Dawson’s supposed second dig site. The new <mark class="term" data-term="species" data-term-def="1. In biological classifications, it is the lowest and most basic unit of the Linnaean taxonomic hierarchy (although it is also&hellip;" data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/species/893">species</mark> was now widely accepted, and this went on through the 1920s, even in the face of new discovery, this time out of Africa. </p><p>In 1924, Raymond Dart, an Australian working in South Africa discovered a skull from a <mark class="term" data-term="species" data-term-def="1. In biological classifications, it is the lowest and most basic unit of the Linnaean taxonomic hierarchy (although it is also&hellip;" data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/species/893">species</mark> that he eventually called <em>Australopithecus africanus</em>. It had a small braincase like an ape and a jaw and teeth less apelike and more like a human. That was inconsistent with the Piltdown picture, as was the idea of humanity emerging in Africa. Dart was utterly ignored by all of the big shots in paleoanthropology. For the next fifteen years or so, <em>A. africanus</em> was not even mentioned in paleoanthropology textbooks and Dart was unable to get papers accepted for publication.</p><p>In addition to discouraging attention from the work of Dart and Dubois, the hoax altered the careers of its supporters, Smith Woodward being an extreme case in point. Throughout the 1920s, most of his <mark class="term" data-term="research" data-term-def="A study or an investigation." data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/research/8257">research</mark> was connected with Piltdown Man right up to retirement and beyond, for he then bought a house in the area and kept digging for more than two decades after the last Piltdown specimens had been excavated, always hoping to find more. And shortly before he died in 1948, Smith Woodward had written a book affirming <em>E. dawsoni</em> as the missing link. (See Figure 7 for a depiction of Dawson and Smith Woodward.)</p> <div class="figure"> <figure> <button class="lightbox-button lightbox-button--icon" data-lightbox="" data-lightbox-src="/img/library/large_images/image_11822.jpg"> <img src="/img/library/modules/mid263/Image/VLObject-11822-171102041137.jpg" alt="Figure 7: Charles Dawson and Arthur Smith Woodward (back right) with other researchers examining the Piltdown Man skull." /> </button> <figcaption> <p><strong>Figure 7</strong>: Charles Dawson and Arthur Smith Woodward (back right) with other researchers examining the Piltdown Man skull.</p> <span class="credit">image ©John Cooke (painter)</span> </figcaption> </figure> </div> <div class="comprehension-checkpoint margin-y-4"> <h6 class="comprehension-checkpoint__header"> <span> <span class="icon icon-question"></span> </span> Comprehension Checkpoint </h6> <form class="" name="cc11814"> <div class="form-entry"> <div class="form-entry__field"> <span class="form-entry__field__label">The <em>A. africanus</em> fossil discovered in 1924, with a small braincase and more human jaw and teeth, proved to scientists at the time that the Piltdown Man was a hoax.</span> <div class="form-entry__option"> <div class="form-entry__option__radio" data-answer="incorrect"> <label> <input id="q1-11814-0-option-a" name="quiz-option-11814" type="radio" value="True" > <span class="option__label"> <span class="screen-reader-only">a.</span> True </span> </label> <span class="quiz__response" id="response-11814-0"> <strong>Incorrect.</strong> </span> </div> <div class="form-entry__option__radio" data-answer="correct"> <label> <input id="q1-11814-1-option-b" name="quiz-option-11814" type="radio" value="False" > <span class="option__label"> <span class="screen-reader-only">b.</span> False </span> </label> <span class="quiz__response" id="response-11814-1"> <strong>Correct!</strong> </span> </div> </div> </div> </div> </form> </div> </section> <section id="toc_6"> <h2>Piltdown Man's collapse</h2><p>Raymond Dart’s find was the first in a long line of discoveries that by the 1940s would show an <mark class="term" data-term="evolution" data-term-def="Change in the gene pool of a population from generation to generation by such processes as mutation, natural selection, and genetic drift." data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/evolution/5284">evolution</mark> of human ancestors in which the brain remained small as the jaw became more human-like. During the 30s and 40s, more <mark class="term" data-term="fossil" data-term-def="The preserved impression or remains of an animal or plant whose living tissue has been replaced by minerals." data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/fossil/8558">fossils</mark> of <em>H. erectus</em> were also unearthed to go along with Dubois’ Java man. So a picture was emerging in which human ancestors walked upright, lost their ape-like jaws and teeth, and only later developed larger brains. This made Piltdown Man look increasingly like a side branch in the human family that just didn’t fit. As Dubois and Dart were vindicated, the world of paleoanthropology was growing skeptical of Piltdown by the 1940s, at least outside of Great Britain.</p><p>For the British people it took a little longer. In 1949, Kenneth Oakley and L.E. Parsons, both researchers at the Museum of Natural History, tested the original Piltdown skull and the mandible for fluorine content. This revealed that the mandible was not from the same time period as the other skull bones and that none of the bones were hundreds of thousands of years old. Other tests revealed the filing of the teeth, the staining of all of the buried specimens, and even the geographic origin of one piece – an elephant tooth with very high <mark class="term" data-term="radioactivity" data-term-def="The spontaneous emission of radiation, due to a nuclear reaction or direct emission from an unstable atomic nucleus. Radioactivity takes&hellip;" data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/radioactivity/5301">radioactivity</mark>, proving that it came from a site in Tunisia. The Hoax was debunked officially in 1953 on a BBC television show and in 1959 carbon dating technology had reached the point where the bones could be dated more precisely. The skull was from medieval times and the mandible was slightly more recent.</p></section> <section id="toc_7"> <h2>Assessing the evidence</h2><p>Recent <mark class="term" data-term="analysis" data-term-def="The careful study of data to look for patterns." data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/analysis/8553">analysis</mark> of mitochondrial <mark class="term" data-term="DNA" data-term-def="Deoxyribonucleic acid. A double-stranded nucleic acid containing the sugar 2-deoxy-D-ribose. A constituent of cellular nuclear material responsible for encoding&hellip;" data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/DNA/1604">DNA</mark> (mtDNA) extracted from the Piltdown bones have yielded some fascinating information about the hoax. It shows, for instance, that the orangutan bone material came from a single orangutan and that the skull pieces used for the two skulls came from either two or three human individuals. Modern study also has revealed that the forger allowed putty to set too quickly, causing small cracks, and other details that all converged on one conclusion: there was only one perpetrator and that perpetrator was an amateur, not a trained conservator.</p><p>The hoax inspired the development of various scientific tests that came into use for authenticating paleoanthropological specimens from the 1960s onward. Thus, in a real sense, Piltdown did have a silver lining in terms of its long-term effects on science. Since exposure of the hoax in the 1950s, however, the investigation has focused more on who could have perpetrated the deception.</p><p>One resident of Sussex who visited the Piltdown site on several occasions at the height of the hoax and who dealt with <mark class="term" data-term="evidence" data-term-def="Support for an idea, opinion, or hypothesis." data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/evidence/8243">evidence</mark> on a regular basis was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the famous author who created Sherlock Homes. Despite credentials as a medical doctor, Conan Doyle was ostracized by the science community in England, because he had taken up pseudoscience. As part of a new pop culture movement, he attended séances and promoted his belief in communication with spirits of dead people. In connection with this, he engaged a practice called 'spirit photography' and circulated what he alleged were 'spirit photographs'. Professional scientists scoffed at the idea, explaining that the pictures were merely double exposures. Thus, they said that Conan Doyle was not scientific, that he didn’t grasp the concept of repeatability in science, that he didn’t understand how evidence worked.</p><p>Since Sherlock Homes was all about <mark class="term" data-term="evidence" data-term-def="Support for an idea, opinion, or hypothesis." data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/evidence/8243">evidence</mark> and deduction, some historians have speculated that Conan Doyle was so insulted that maybe he orchestrated the Piltdown hoax to trap scientists, to show that they didn’t know about evidence. It’s an intriguing <mark class="term" data-term="hypothesis" data-term-def="From the Greek word <em>hypothesis</em> meaning assumption or the basis of an argument, a hypothesis is a proposal intended to explain&hellip;" data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/hypothesis/3727">hypothesis</mark>, perhaps more so today, given the bone <mark class="term" data-term="analysis" data-term-def="The careful study of data to look for patterns." data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/analysis/8553">analysis</mark> showing that the perpetrator was an amateur. A problem with the Conan Doyle hypothesis, however, is that he never actually revealed the hoax. He never came out and said,"Aha! You fell for the bait."</p><p>Over the years, there has been speculation about de Chardin and even Smith Woodward, but both would have known how to set the putty. Moreover, Smith Woodward spent the rest of his life looking for more Piltdown specimens, so he really looks more like the victim rather than the perpetrator.</p><p>For Charles Dawson, the <mark class="term" data-term="evidence" data-term-def="Support for an idea, opinion, or hypothesis." data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/evidence/8243">evidence</mark> is circumstantial, but there’s a great deal of it, especially when considering his other discoveries. Though known as the greatest amateur archaeologist during his lifetime, once the Piltdown hoax was exposed in 1953, Dawson’s Roman tiles came under scrutiny with chemical tests. It turns out they were forged. So were his Chinese pottery pieces. Of more than forty artifacts that highlighted Dawson’s amateur scientific career, most were either forged or included some aspect of deceitful tampering.</p><p>Finally, there is Martin Hinton, the <mark class="term" data-term="fossil" data-term-def="The preserved impression or remains of an animal or plant whose living tissue has been replaced by minerals." data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/fossil/8558">fossil</mark> authenticator whom we discussed earlier in connection with the Stone Age "cricket bat." During a renovation of the Natural History Museum in the mid-20th century, a couple of researchers found a case of bones in a room where Hinton had worked. The bones had been stained, then cut, apparently to see how deep the stain penetrated. Given Hinton’s reputation as a practical joker, given the suspicions about Piltdown that he expressed (not just in the early years in his letters, but later during Kenneth Oakley’s investigations in the 1940s and 50s), the <mark class="term" data-term="evidence" data-term-def="Support for an idea, opinion, or hypothesis." data-term-url="/en/glossary/view/evidence/8243">evidence</mark> does support the idea of Hinton as the cricket bat maker. But the case of the bones is harder to interpret. Was he experimenting with the stains in preparation to carry out the hoax or was he experimenting after he grew suspicious merely to see how it was done? The modern evidence regarding the amateurish nature of the forgery weighs against Hinton as the hoax perpetrator, but leaves him high on the list for carving the cricket bat.</p> </div> </section> <hr class="border-color-dark" /> <footer class="module__footer"> <p class="citation"> <em> David Warmflash, MD, Nathan H Lents, Ph.D. “The Piltdown Hoax” Visionlearning Vol. BIO-5 (3), 2017. </em> </p>  <div class="title-list" name="further"> <p class="h6 title-list__title"> Further Reading </p> <ul class="grid grid--column-2--md grid--column-3--md gap-1"> <li> <a class="no-hover-focus height-100" href="/en/library/Process-of-Science/49/Scientific-Ethics/161"> <article class="flex-row align-items-center flex-column--md align-items-start--md height-100 theme-light padding-2 gap-2"> <div class="width-30 width-auto--md"> <img class="border-radius box-shadow-1" src="/img/library/moduleImages/featured_image_161-23061210061209.jpeg" alt="Scientific Ethics"> </div> <div class="flex-grow-shrink"> <h2 class="h6 font-weight-normal"> Scientific Ethics: <em>Ethical standards and their implications</em> </h2> </div> </article> </a> </li> </ul> </div> </footer> </div>   </div>  <div class="order-1 order-2--lg module__tools"> <div class="narrow margin-x-auto position-sticky-top font-size-md"> <div class="padding-2 border-radius box-shadow-1--lg"> <div class="tabs" role="tablist"> <nav> <button class="button button--icon-label" id="tab-button-in-this-module" aria-label="Table of Contents" aria-controls="tab-panel-module__tools" aria-selected="true" role="tab"> <span class="icon icon-list" aria-hidden="true"></span> <span class="button__text">Contents</span> </button> <button class="button button--icon-label" id="tab-button-toggle-terms" aria-controls="tab-panel-toggle-terms" aria-selected="false" role="tab"> <span class="icon icon-glossary-highlight"></span> <span class="button__text">Glossary Terms</span> </button> </nav> <hr class="divider" /> <div class="tabs__panel shown" id="tab-panel-module__tools" aria-labelledby="tab-button-module__tools" role="tabpanel"> <p class="font-weight-bold margin-bottom-1"> Table of Contents </p> <div class="table-of-contents" id="module-toc"> <ul> <li><a href="/en/library/biology/2/the-piltdown-hoax/263#toc_1">The perfect storm and the perfect hoax</a> </li> <li><a href="/en/library/biology/2/the-piltdown-hoax/263#toc_2">A lawyer, a zoologist, and a priest walk into a gravel pit</a> </li> <li><a href="/en/library/biology/2/the-piltdown-hoax/263#toc_3">A patriotic missing link</a> </li> <li><a href="/en/library/biology/2/the-piltdown-hoax/263#toc_4">An anonymous confession?</a> </li> <li><a href="/en/library/biology/2/the-piltdown-hoax/263#toc_5">Piltdown Man reigns through the 1920s</a> </li> <li><a href="/en/library/biology/2/the-piltdown-hoax/263#toc_6">Piltdown Man's collapse</a> </li> <li><a href="/en/library/biology/2/the-piltdown-hoax/263#toc_7">Assessing the evidence</a> </li> </ul> </div> </div>   <div class="tabs__panel" id="tab-panel-toggle-terms" aria-labelledby="tab-button-toggle-terms" role="tabpanel"> <div class="reading-toggle"> <div class="reading-toggle__switch"> <div class="form-entry__option__switch"> <label> <input type="checkbox" name="termsToggleSwitch" id="terms-toggle-switch" /> <span class="switch__slider"></span> <span class="option__label text-decoration-none font-size-md"> Highlight Glossary Terms </span> </label> </div> </div> <div class="reading-toggle__help"> <p> <em> Activate glossary term highlighting to easily identify key terms within the module. 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