10. The controversial find that shaped early Hominid studies for decades
In 1912, an amateur archaeologist, Charles Dawson, announced the discovery of human-like fossils in Piltdown, East Sussex, consisting of fossilized fragments of a cranium, jawbone, and other parts. Britain’s premier paleontologist pronounced the fossils evidence of a hitherto unknown proto-human species. Further excavations were made nearby in 1913 and 1914, unearthing stone tools, plus teeth and additional skull fragments. So were animal remains, and a mysterious carved bone resembling a cricket bat. The excitement mounted with each new find. At the time, there was a growing, and as it ultimately turned out, correct, scientific belief that human evolution had occurred in Africa. It was there that fossils of homo erectus, an early hominid, had been discovered.
The notion that they were ultimately African was too jarring for many Europeans, including many in the British scientific community. Piltdown Man offered a feasible alternative, and thus a convenient out, from the challenge posed to the racist theories of the day by humanity’s African origins. Moreover, if the “missing link” discovered in England was accurate, it would mean that Britain had played a prominent role in human evolution. It would also buttress the belief that Europeans – or at least the British – had evolved separately, and were not of African origins.
