Question
Why do you think the Piltdown teeth are so flat?
Piltdown man
Some people started to have doubts about whether the Piltdown jaw was even human. Click on the picture to find out how scientists interpreted the jaw and compare it with the way we might interpret it today.
1. Examining the teeth | The surface a shape of the teeth
The jaw of Piltdown Man
©The Natural History Museum
The teeth in the Piltdown jaw feel smooth and flat. When they were discovered, they were unlike anything people had seen before. Woodward compared the Piltdown teeth with those of a chimpanzee and a human.
The jaw of a chimpanzee
©The Natural History Museum
The teeth of chimpanzees and other apes are very rough and pointed, unlike the teeth in the Piltdown jaw.
The jaw of an early human
©The Natural History Museum
Humans have much flatter molars than those of chimpanzees because of the way we grind our food using a circular motion. But even our teeth are not as flat as the teeth in the Piltdown jaw.
References
- Scanning electron microscopy (SEM):
at the Natural History Museum - How the SEM works:
from the Museum of Science - Darwin Centre In-site:
the use of scale in scientific study
