title: New genetic and morphological evidence suggests a single hoaxer created 'Piltdown man'.
abstract: In 1912, palaeontologist Arthur Smith Woodward and amateur antiquarian and solicitor Charles Dawson announced the discovery of a fossil that supposedly provided a link between apes and humans:Eoanthropus dawsoni(Dawson's dawn man). The publication generated huge interest from scientists and the general public. However, 'Piltdown man's' initial celebrity has long been overshadowed by its subsequent infamy as one of the most famous scientific frauds in history. Our re-evaluation of the Piltdown fossils using the latest scientific methods (DNA analyses, high-precision measurements, spectroscopy and virtual anthropology) shows that it is highly likely that a single orang-utan specimen and at least two human specimens were used to create the fake fossils. Themodus operandiwas found consistent throughout the assemblage (specimens are stained brown, loaded with gravel fragments and restored using filling materials), linking all specimens from the Piltdown I and Piltdown II sites to a single forger-Charles Dawson. Whether Dawson acted alone is uncertain, but his hunger for acclaim may have driven him to risk his reputation and misdirect the course of anthropology for decades. The Piltdown hoax stands as a cautionary tale to scientists not to be led by preconceived ideas, but to use scientific integrity and rigour in the face of novel discoveries.
authors.affiliation: Research Centre in Evolutionary Anthropology and Palaeoecology, Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom Street, Liverpool L3 3AF, UK; School of Natural Sciences and Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom Street, Liverpool L3 3AF, UK.
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-9860-0180
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: De Groote
authors.affiliation: Research Centre in Evolutionary Anthropology and Palaeoecology, Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom Street, Liverpool L3 3AF, UK; School of Natural Sciences and Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom Street, Liverpool L3 3AF, UK.
authors.forename: Linus Girdland
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Flink
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology , University College London , 14 Taviton Street, London WC1H 0BW , UK.
authors.forename: Rizwaan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Abbas
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth Sciences , Natural History Museum , London SW7 5BD , UK.
authors.forename: Silvia M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Bello
authors.affiliation: Science Section, Conservation Department, Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington, London SW7 2RL, UK; Christopher Ingold Laboratories, University College London, Gordon Street, London WC1H 0AJ, UK.
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Burgia
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK; Division of Biological Anthropology, University of Cambridge, Pembroke Street, Cambridge CB2 3QG, UK.
authors.forename: Laura Tabitha
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: Buck
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell and Developmental Biology , University College London , Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT , UK.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-3783-7296
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dean
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth Sciences , Natural History Museum , London SW7 5BD , UK.
authors.forename: Alison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Freyne
authors.affiliation: Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art , University of Oxford , Oxford OX1 3QY , UK.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Higham
authors.affiliation: Core Research Laboratories , Natural History Museum , London SW7 5BD , UK.
authors.forename: Chris G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth Sciences , Natural History Museum , London SW7 5BD , UK.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kruszynski
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth Sciences , Natural History Museum , London SW7 5BD , UK.
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lister
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK; Institute of Archaeology, University College London, London WC1H 0PY, UK.
authors.forename: Simon A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Parfitt
authors.affiliation: School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Marlowe Building, Canterbury CT2 7NR, UK; Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutsche Platz 6, Leipzig 04103, Germany.
authors.forename: Matthew M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Skinner
authors.affiliation: Scientific and Library Associate , Natural History Museum , London SW7 5BD , UK.
authors.forename: Karolyn
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shindler
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth Sciences , Natural History Museum , London SW7 5BD , UK.
authors.forename: Chris B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Stringer
keywords: DNA; Eoanthropus; geometric morphometrics; human evolution