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Piltdown Man

Piltdown Man. How fake fossils can be interpreted by different Social Groups Presentation by Marit Heideman and Renato Ponciano. Presentation Outline. Introduction Theoretical frame Evolutionism Creationism The Piltdown man “discovery” Interpretations on Piltdown case Conclusions.

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Piltdown Man

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  1. Piltdown Man How fake fossils can be interpreted by different Social Groups Presentation by Marit Heideman and Renato Ponciano

  2. Presentation Outline • Introduction • Theoretical frame • Evolutionism • Creationism • The Piltdown man “discovery” • Interpretations on Piltdown case • Conclusions Presentation ESST 2002 - Module 3

  3. Theoretical FrameEvolutionism • Before Darwin • God created Earth; man is a masterpiece of His creation • c. 1800 de Lamarck: Linear Evolution • After Darwin • Different species stem from the same ancestor (natural selection, struggle for existence, habitat changes) Controversy Human just another animal God designed species Presentation ESST 2002 - Module 3

  4. Creationism • Theory that appears as a scientific response to evolutionism • Claims that fossils and geological findings do not contradict the Genesis as described in the Bible Presentation ESST 2002 - Module 3

  5. Creationist Interpretations of Genesis Presentation ESST 2002 - Module 3

  6. The Piltdown Man: Chronology (I) • 1856: Neanderthal Man discovered • 1859: Darwin’s Origin of Species • 1908: Discovery of hominid bone fragments in Sussex, England. • 1912: Public Presentation of Piltdown Man I Presentation ESST 2002 - Module 3

  7. The Piltdown Man: Chronology (II) • 1917: Discovery of Piltdown Man II • 1925: Reports on errors in Piltdown case (ignored) • 1949: Fluorine Test on Piltdown Bones • 1953: Exposure of the Hoax: Bones were fixed up! Presentation ESST 2002 - Module 3

  8. Importance of the Discovery • Evolution theory launched a major search for “the missing link” • Piltdown Man met theoretical expectations: • Brain size similar to human • Jaws similar to ape • First major British palaeo-anthropological discovery Presentation ESST 2002 - Module 3

  9. Exposure of the Hoax • Piltdown man didn’t fit with the following findings (e.g. Peking man– Homo erectus) • New dating techniques available around 1940 -fluorine tests- showed bones more recent • Cranium – human (± 1300 AD) • Jaw – Orangutan (± 1500 AD) Presentation ESST 2002 - Module 3

  10. Why Piltdown Man lived so long? • Scientific Credentials of the Discovery team • Primitive Analytical Tools available at the time • Excellent skill of forgery (Gee, H; In Nature 381, 1996) • Matched with what was expected from theory • Hoax led charmed life. Presentation ESST 2002 - Module 3

  11. Presentation ESST 2002 - Module 3

  12. Evolution is a Fraud!Interpretations of Piltdown Case • Creationists: • Piltdown shows how Evolution science is fake • Missing link doesn’t exist (online source, <http://www.pathlights.com>) • Criticism: Ideological; disqualifies theory based on one case • Evolutionists: • Piltdown shows how science will develop its own course despite fraud • Man’s evolution is still a fact: other discoveries confirm theory (Carroll, online source, <http://skepdic.com/piltdown>) • Criticism: Deterministic view of development of science Presentation ESST 2002 - Module 3

  13. Conclusions • Development of science is dependent on available techniques. • In the Piltdown case, early evidence of fraud was neglected because scientific community eagerly wanted to find the “missing link”. Piltdown Hoax doesn’t prove science right or wrong: shows it as a human activity, dependent on contemporary means. Presentation ESST 2002 - Module 3

  14. Thanks for your Attention! Presentation ESST 2002 - Module 3

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