Piltdown Man, the Missing Link: Exposing the Motives and Methods behind a 100-Year-Old Hoax

Date: 

Monday, March 27, 2017, 6:00pm

Location: 

Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138

Race, Representation and Museums Lecture Series

Christopher Dean, Emeritus Professor of Anatomy, Division of Biosciences and Professorial Research Associate, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University College London

In 1912, British paleontologist Arthur Smith Woodward and amateur antiquarian Charles Dawson announced the discovery of a hominin in Sussex, England, thought to be a possible “missing link” between apes and humans. Referred to as Piltdown Man, the find made headlines, but ultimately turned out to be one of the most infamous scientific frauds of all time. Christopher Dean will discuss the history of the hoax, the modus operandi of the forger, and why Piltdown Man continues to be studied a century later.

Free and open to the public

Presented by Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology and Harvard Museum of Natural History in collaboration with the Departments of Anthropology, Harvard University

 

See also: Public Lectures