The Piltdown Forgery

by Weiner, J. S.; Stringer, Chris

• ISBN13: 9780198607809
• ISBN10: 0198607806
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-01-29
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Piltdown was an archaeological site in Sussex where in 1908 and 1912,human, ape and other mammal fossils were found together. Widely accepted as acreature who had a human cranium and an ape's jaw, the Piltdown 'Man' washowever exposed as a fraud in 1953. Dr Weiner carefully reveals his owntheories which led to this exposure and describes the controversies anddifficulties which beset the scientific evaluation of the discovery. This newedition contains a foreword and afterword by Professor Chris Stringer, Head ofHuman Origins, Dept. of Palaeontology at the Natural History Museum.

Author Biography

Dr. Weiner was Reader in Physical Anthropology at Oxford University, and one of the scientists whose investigations resulted in the exposure of the Piltdown Man hoax. Prof. Chris Stringer is Head of Human Origins, Dept. of Palaeontology, The Natural History Museum.

Table of Contents

Introduction to the fiftieth anniversary edition of The Piltdown Forgery by Chris Stringer	vii
Some characters in the Piltdown story	xi
Preface	xiv
Note to second impression	xvii
Illustrations	xviii
1. A Darwinian prediction	1	(15)
2. An impasse	16	(8)
3. An hypothesis	24	(9)
4. The jaw displaced	33	(16)
5. Flint and fauna	49	(14)
6. The full extent	63	(8)
7. The principals and their part	71	(13)
8. Some others	84	(13)
9. Lineaments of the forger	97	(11)
10. Events reconsidered	108	(18)
11. Entanglement	126	(13)
12. 'The eye wink'	139	(14)
13. The Sussex wizard	153	(19)
14. The question of complicity	172	(13)
Epilogue	185	(3)
Afterward: Piltdown 2003 by Chris Stringer	188	(15)
Index	203