1-155-246 - Ann Ronan Picture Library/Heritage-Images

Model of the skull of Piltdown Man (Eanothropus dawsoni), 1914. Model as reconstructed by Dr Smith Woodward. Dark areas are from the original fossil, the light are the restored areas. Most of the lower jaw is restored on the far side. This supposed fossil was 'discovered' near Lewes, Sussex, in 1912 by Charles Dawson, a local solicitor and amateur archaeologist. Postulated to be a 'missing link' in human evolution, in 1954 it was proved to be a hoax, a human cranium skilfully connected to the jaw of an orang-utan. From Scientific American, 7 November 1914.