Origin Stories

In this episode, we explore the story of Piltdown Man – one of the most notorious hoaxes in history.  When Piltdown Man was discovered in a gravel pit outside a small English village in 1912, it was celebrated as a "missing link." The find captured the public's imagination and became world-famous. The problem was that Piltdown Man was a complete fraud. The purported fossils were actually made up of modern human bones and an orangutan mandible. The Piltdown hoax suspects have included Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of Sherlock Holmes, and the philosopher Teilhard de Chardin. Now, more than 100 years later, scientists have narrowed the suspects down to a single culprit.    Thanks: Thanks to producer Leo Hornak for reporting this story. Thanks also to Professor Chris Dean of University College, London, Dr. Isabelle De Groote of Liverpool University, Karolyn Shindler, Professor Chris Stringer of the Natural History Museum, London, and Dr. David Joyce of Clark University, who runs the excellent Piltdown Plot websi