The Piltdown Man Discovery: Unveiling of a Monolith Memorial

Abstract

ON July 23, Sir Arthur Keith unveiled a monolith memorial which has been placed in the grounds of Barkham Manor, Piltdown, Sussex, to mark the spot where the late Mr. Charles Dawson found the fossil skull of Piltdown Man (Eoanthropus dawsoni). He paid a tribute to Mr. Dawson, whose important work as an amateur deserved our gratitude and remembrance. He remarked that the Piltdown skull is so different from any other human skull previously discovered, that the divergent opinions expressed by those who have attempted to interpret it are not surprising. In 1912–1913, when the fossil was found, much less was known of early man than is known at present. If a similarly novel discovery were made now, there would be closer agreement among those who studied it. Sir Arthur is more impressed at present with the simian characters of the skull and brain-cast, as well as those of the lower jaw, than he was when he originally examined the fossil.