Reader in Physical Anthropology at Oxford University
Publications
The Piltdown Forgery, by J. S. Weiner, published 1957 (Geoffrey Cumberlege, Oxford University Press)
Review by E. Cecil Curwen in Sussex Notes and Queries, November 1955:It is a remarkable thing that the Sussex Archaeological Society took no official notice whatever of the Piltdon discoveries when they were first made, although they were the subject of eager discussion throughout the scientific world in two Continents, and brought international fame to, at any rate, one aspect of Sussex archaeology. Dr. Weiner, who is Reader in Physical Anthropology at Oxford, and is one of the scientists who was responsible for the discovery of the now well-known fraud, hints that the Society's apathy in this matter may have been due to doubt of the genuineness of the discoveries from the beginning. In this case the 'prophet', Charles Dawson, seems to have enjoyed unlimited honour everywhere, except in his own county and in the Sussex Archaeological Society, of which he was a member - not because Sussex people failed to recognise his merits, but rather, perhaps, because they had better opportunities of realising his weaknesses.
The story of the Piltdown problem and its background, as represented by scientific opinions held at the beginning of the present century regarding the origin and evolution of Man, are fascinatingly outlined by the author, leading on to a consideration of the increasing difficulty felt by palaeontologists in fitting the Piltdown discoveries into the present-day framework of anthropological knowledge. It was the realisation that the remains found at Piltdown could no longer be regarded as a 'missing link', so much as a baffling monster, which led the author to think of the possibility of their being fraudulent, as the only means of resolving the impasse.
The scientific tests to which all the remains were subjected are described in a way that will hold the interest of the ordinary educated reader, and the full significance of each is made clear. A whole battery of chemical and physical tests were brought to bear on the remains by Dr. K. P. Oakley "an array of new techniques . . . exceeding all endeavours of this kind in the whole history of palaeontology," even including tests for radio-activity and crystal structure. The results were completely conclusive, proving that not one of the items was genuinely found at Piltdown or at the neighbouring site at Sheffield Park, but that a carefully selected assortment of fossil remains from a variety of sources, including also a piece of the jaw of a modern orang outang (suitably treated and stained), had been deliberately 'planted' there in order that they should be found by the excavators.
Who, then, could have been responsible for this very discreditable piece of work, and what could have been his motive? The author goes on to review the evidence for this, discussing all the personalities involved, and referring to many past and present members of the Society. All lines of circumstantial evidence seem to point to Charles Dawson as the guilty party, but the author charitably goes on to say, "In the circumstances, can we withhold from Dawson the one alternative possibility, remote though it seems, but which we cannot altogether disprove; that he might, after all, have been implicated in a 'joke', perhaps not his own, which went too far? Would it not be fairer to one who cannot speak for himself to let it go at that?"
The false scent laid at Piltdown has greatly hindered the progress of the study of human palaeontology, and now that it has been eliminated everyone concerned will breath more freely. For the general reader Dr. Weiner's book explains all this in a most readable way, while the account of the detective work on the forgery itself is quite absorbing. Every member of the Society should possess and read this book.
The story of the Piltdown problem and its background, as represented by scientific opinions held at the beginning of the present century regarding the origin and evolution of Man, are fascinatingly outlined by the author, leading on to a consideration of the increasing difficulty felt by palaeontologists in fitting the Piltdown discoveries into the present-day framework of anthropological knowledge. It was the realisation that the remains found at Piltdown could no longer be regarded as a 'missing link', so much as a baffling monster, which led the author to think of the possibility of their being fraudulent, as the only means of resolving the impasse.
The scientific tests to which all the remains were subjected are described in a way that will hold the interest of the ordinary educated reader, and the full significance of each is made clear. A whole battery of chemical and physical tests were brought to bear on the remains by Dr. K. P. Oakley "an array of new techniques . . . exceeding all endeavours of this kind in the whole history of palaeontology," even including tests for radio-activity and crystal structure. The results were completely conclusive, proving that not one of the items was genuinely found at Piltdown or at the neighbouring site at Sheffield Park, but that a carefully selected assortment of fossil remains from a variety of sources, including also a piece of the jaw of a modern orang outang (suitably treated and stained), had been deliberately 'planted' there in order that they should be found by the excavators.
Who, then, could have been responsible for this very discreditable piece of work, and what could have been his motive? The author goes on to review the evidence for this, discussing all the personalities involved, and referring to many past and present members of the Society. All lines of circumstantial evidence seem to point to Charles Dawson as the guilty party, but the author charitably goes on to say, "In the circumstances, can we withhold from Dawson the one alternative possibility, remote though it seems, but which we cannot altogether disprove; that he might, after all, have been implicated in a 'joke', perhaps not his own, which went too far? Would it not be fairer to one who cannot speak for himself to let it go at that?"
The false scent laid at Piltdown has greatly hindered the progress of the study of human palaeontology, and now that it has been eliminated everyone concerned will breath more freely. For the general reader Dr. Weiner's book explains all this in a most readable way, while the account of the detective work on the forgery itself is quite absorbing. Every member of the Society should possess and read this book.
The Piltdown Forgery, by J. S. Weiner, published 29 January 2004 (248 pp., Oxford University Press, 50th anniversary edition, ISBN-10: 0198607806 & ISBN-13: 9780198607809) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries