The Piltdown Hoax

1. THE PILTDOWN HOAX
The Piltdown Hoax took place in 1912 where remains found by Charles Dawson at an archaeological site in Piltdown, England were thought to be part of what we now know as the "Missing Link." The creature they found had features that were comparable to the skull of a human and the jaw of an ape. A lot of people in the scientific community were skeptical with most saying the bones resembled parts of different animals rather than just one. The press, public, and most of the scientific community accepted the hoax as real at first though. The fact that Darwin's theory of evolution was a popular new hot topic had people interested in anything having to do with it. Many people went wild, feeling as though they had finally found the link that proved his theories right.
In 1953, however, Kenneth Page Oakley, Sir Wilfred Edward Le Gros Clark, and Joseph Weiner proved the Piltdown Man as a hoax. The technology of carbon dating recently developed in the 40s allowed a way to test the bones, revealing them to be much younger than believed for so many years. Further examination revealed file marks on the teeth revealing that the teeth had been filed down to appear as a human's.
In the fields of human evolution, the Piltdown hoax was a shameful one. It led scientists into wrong beliefs about brain size compared to jaw size. If the Piltdown hoax were true, it would have been evidence of the human brain expanding before the jaw was able to adapt to new foods. In addition, science took a huge hit from non-believing communities as well. The Piltdown hoax fueled the fires that skeptics of science harbored.

2. FAULTS IN THE PILTDOWN HOAX:
I think haste is the biggest fault that comes into play when it comes to the Piltdown hoax. Scientists were in the midst of a hot topic and eager to figure out its mysteries. Evolution was - and still is today - an extremely controversial concept. However, when the Piltdown Hoax took place, evolution was a fairly new concept proviking skepticism and making people all the more eager to have a solid answer about its legitimacy. The fact that there was a lack of technology to uncover the truth about the hoax, plus a rather premature concept of how evolution works, and a drive to figure it out, were all faults of the people believing the hoax and part of the reason why scientists did not recognize sooner what was really going on. The scientific process was hindered through these faults because scientists were led on a wrong path. False concepts about evolution were considered because of false evidence that was found.

3. SCIENTIFIC PROCESSES TO REVEAL THE HOAX
The Piltdown skull was revealed as a fraud through several methods. First, with a breakthrough in carbon dating of fossils, the skull was dated to be much younger that originally believed. Also, when placed under a microscope, file-marks were found on the teeth; the teeth seemed to have been ground down to resemble the wear patterns on human teeth. Lastly, with the fact that the skull had been dated to medieval times, scientists reasoned that to create wear similar to that of what would have been produced from the area in Piltdown, the skull had been boiled and stained with an iron solution and chromic acid.
Scientists had always been skeptics about the skull - especially since other fossils found didn't fit the same bill as the Piltdown skull. Scientists felt that compared to other fossils, the skull was inconsistent with the development of humans.

4. THE HUMAN FACTOR
I don't think it is possible to remove the human factor - part of being human is the human factor. The human factor is not only our ability to be at fault, but our ability to feel and reason We feel curious, and reason to solve our questions which can end up in fault. However, being at fault isn't necessarily a bad thing. To be wrong is just as much a way of learning as being right.
Overall, I would not want to remove the human factor. It's because we're human and alive that we're so curious. To take that away and be right all the time would be boring. The chase for answers and the wrong routes we take to get there are just as, if not more, beneficial as all of the right routes; not to mention it is just as enticing as the truth it leads to.

5. LESSONS LEARNED
Taking any information at face value is never a good idea. Everyone believes something different and most often people are under the impression that what they believe is right. If someone was to accept everything they heard without checking it for themselves first could collect a whole lot of useless information.