Opposing Factions

Abstract

The Piltdown man was discovered in 1912 and accepted as one of the most important examples of early humans. Eoanthropus Dawsonii, named after his discoverer, appeared in every English Schoolbook as the first specimen of the ‘true-born Englishman’. Certain doubts that arose regarding the relationship between the skull and the jawbone were quashed by more discoveries from 1913–1915 of similar remains, accompanied by animal bones and artefacts of equal antiquity. The scepticism of some experts, such as dentists, was treated with the contempt it deserved. It was not until 40 years later, in 1953, that serious doubts were raised, not as to authenticity, but as to the dating of the remains, which were thoroughly scrutinized. The startling result was that all the remains found at Piltdown, human, animal and mineral, were modern forgeries, whose fabrication must have been started as early as 1908.¹ The investigators did not have enough evidence to identify the forger with certainty, but, among various suspects, the finger pointed at Charles Dawson, who discovered the remains, because he was the only person with the knowledge, the means and the opportunity. His motive is still obscure, but, had he not died suddenly and unexpectedly in 1916, just after the last finds were made, he would have certainly been elected a Fellow of many royal societies and might have received a knighthood.