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

Presentation ESST Module 3 Presentation Outline Introduction Theoretical frame Evolutionism Creationism The Piltdown man discovery Interpretations on Piltdown case Conclusions

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

Presentation ESST Module 3 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 Module 3 Creationist Interpretations of Genesis

Presentation ESST Module : Neanderthal Man discovered 1859: Darwins Origin of Species 1908: Discovery of hominid bone fragments in Sussex, England. 1912: Public Presentation of Piltdown Man I The Piltdown Man: Chronology (I)

Presentation ESST Module : 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! The Piltdown Man: Chronology (II)

Presentation ESST Module 3 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 Module 3 Exposure of the Hoax Piltdown man didnt fit with the following findings (e.g. Peking man– Homo erectus) New dating techniques available around fluorine tests- showed bones more recent –Cranium – human (± 1300 AD) –Jaw – Orangutan (± 1500 AD)

Presentation ESST Module 3 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 Module 3

Evolution is a Fraud! Interpretations of Piltdown Case Creationists: –Piltdown shows how Evolution science is fake –Missing link doesnt exist (online source, ) Criticism: Ideological; disqualifies theory based on one case Evolutionists: –Piltdown shows how science will develop its own course despite fraud –Mans evolution is still a fact: other discoveries confirm theory (Carroll, online source, ) Criticism: Deterministic view of development of science

Presentation ESST Module 3 Conclusions 1.Development of science is dependent on available techniques. 2.In the Piltdown case, early evidence of fraud was neglected because scientific community eagerly wanted to find the missing link. Piltdown Hoax doesnt prove science right or wrong: shows it as a human activity, dependent on contemporary means.

Presentation ESST Module 3 Thanks for your Attention!