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Piltdown man

Piltdown Man. Skip directly to: Navigation, Museum Links, Resources.
Detail from the 'Piltdown Gang'. Painting by John Cooke.

In the summer of 1912, two men discovered the skull and jaw of an early human in a field in Sussex. It was presented to the world as the 'missing link' between apes and humans. But 40 years later, the find was revealed as a hoax.

Piltdown Man

You are about to embark on a journey back to 1912, to study the bones of Piltdown Man as scientists did then. At each point in your journey, you will consider how scientists would interpret the same fossils today. Could we be fooled again?

Can you find answers to the questions this science casebook poses?

Instructions

  • Visit the different areas for examining the Piltdown fossils by clicking on the links to the left.
  • At each examination area, you can examine the Piltdown fossils as scientists did when they were first discovered.
  • Click on 'Now' to compare how scientists would examine the fossils today.

References