Piltdown Man skull 1912 (fraud)

Piltdown Man Skull 1912 Fraud.  This skull is a replica of Dawson's so-called "Dawn Man," which had been unearthed in a gravel pit at Piltdown near Sussex, England, by Charles Dawson in 1912.  The find consisted of a modern appearing cranium, with a modern sized brain, combined with a primitive apelike jaw, and was found near the teeth of extinct animals dated at 5 million years old.  For 40 years the skull bones of "Dawn Man" were considered genuine and hindered understanding of human evolution by supporting the biased view that a large brain led the evolutionary way toward modern humans.  By 1953, the application of fluorine analysis and the work of two anatomists and an archaeologist exposed Piltdown Man as a hoax.  The "find" turned out to be a modern appearing human cranium and the mandible of a modern orangutan, buried along with the bones of the extinct animals.  Unfortunately, this hoax misdirected anthropologists for some time, contributing to the original rejection of the Taung Child (which had a jaw of human-like features and an ape-sized brain, a reversal of the pattern observed in English Piltdown Man), and also suggesting that pre-sapiens existed in Europe, a view which has since been discredited.  The black portions of the skull indicate the "original" find.  The rest is a recreation commissioned by Bone Clones® in 2000.

Stand available - see product code SBH014.

Model size: 23(L) x 16(W) x 18.5(H) cm

The Bone Clones® Hominid Series

Our aim is to provide the best possible facsimile models of the most important hominid finds for the general public, educators and students, using the best reference material available.  Each hominid has been carefully researched and re-created based on some or all of the following: casts of original fossils, the latest literature (descriptions and/or published measurements), input from the scientific community and full colour, life-size photographs.  Every effort has been made to accurately re-create anatomical details of colour, size, shape, reconstructed areas, and bone/fossil texture.  The hominids offered in this series are high quality, artistic recreations that can be advantageously used by educators as important visual aids in the classroom and appreciated by the general public.  They are not intended for advanced graduate work nor to be measured for research purposes.

(Information courtesy Bone Clones, Inc)