The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-07-04
PiltdOWn Skull
ShOWsGreatAqe
of Monster Man
in British Isles

THAT primeval man inhabited the
British isles before they were sep
ated from Europe is the conclusion
reached by English scientists after
searching studies of the remains Of the
"Piltdown man." that invaluable human
relic discovered in the gravel bed of the
Weald of Sussex less than three years
ago. THE Piltdown skull" so called be-
cause of the town near which it was
between man as he is today ands our
monster-like ancestors.
The 'Piltdown skull and other re-
mains Of prehistoric mans existence in
England long before history as it is
known to us began to be recorded have
been collected in the Natural History
museum at South Kensington, England.
Scientists have tracked down that most
wonderful of all stories, the origin CO
man, with far greater skill than any
modern Sherlock Holmes ferTets out a
crime. DR.. Smith Woodward has pre-
pared a guide to this part of the museum
and gives a fascinating description OF
how the oldest of all human relics was
discovered and the conclusions reached
by the scientists from the discovery:
"True. man. though of very low de-
gree. had certainly reached Europe by
the end of the pliocene or the beginning
of the pleistocene period. He had even
spread so far as the southern part Of
England-then united with the continent
AS proved by the discovery of portions
of a remarkable skull and lower jaw in
a river gravel at Piltdown, near Fletch-
ing, almost midway between CrowbOr-
ough and Lewes, in the Weald of Sus-
sex. The discovery was made in 1912
by Mr.. Charles Dawson and the remains
were presented to the museum in 1913
by himself and the lord of the manor,
Mr.. C. NJ. Maryon-Wilson.
THE Piltdown gravel had attracted
the attention of Mr.. Dawson for some
time. because he had noticed in it nu-
merous peculiar fints from the chalk.
which could not have been carried to the
spot by any existing stream. The nearest
water course is the River Ouse. which
has cut a valley eighty feet deep since
the gravel in question was deposited,
and this river at present has no source
in the chalk. The geography of the re-
gion, in fact, has completely changed.
and the Piltdown gravel may have been
left not even by the Ouse, but by some
river that has disappeared. 1t is there
fore an unusually old river gravel pre-
served by accident and any fossil that re-
mains in it must naturally be of special
interest
This discovery Of the gravel of an an
cient river bed must be taken as the first
link in the great detective story The
next link came when workmen began to
dig up the gravel for use on roads. They
dug up human skull, broke it up and
threw 1t away.
"One fragment was fortunately pre-
served and given to Mr. Dawson, who
recognized its importance and at once
began a search for the remainder of the
specimen. Enough pieces were recovered
to show the essential peculiarities of the
skull Part of the lower jaw and the low
er canine teeth eventually were found in
the adjacent undisturbed gravel, and
both implements of human workmanship
and fragmentary remains of animals also
we're met with"
From the moment of the discovery the
best brains of the world have been at
work on these fragments. Physicians saw
that 1t had no trace of disease and there
Tore presented a fair specimen of the
beast man Of those far off days Anthro-
biologists measured the skull and won
1ered at its thickness, and biologists
worked out the capacity of the huge
brain that must have been inside it. Lat
er on morphologists discovered con-
lection between the hideous apelike
anime teeth and the milk teeth of
modern child.
DR.. Woodward gives as part OF his
conclusions from the investigation of all
he remains stored up in the museum:
Man, having a skeleton identical
With the existing one, has lived in west
,rn Europe for a long period, during
treat changes of climate. much altera-
ion of geographical contour and the
lying out of numerous wild quadruprd%.
lie was here long before the British isles
we're separated from the mainland Of
Europe. His immediate predecessor was
form Of man (Neanderthal or Monste-
lam. which more nearly resembles the
pes Still earlier Heidel-
,erg man, though with typically human
eeth, ..ad a much more retreating bony
hin, suggestive of closer relationship
With the apes. Finally Piltdown man,
ace, and probably older. had both lower
aw and front teeth as nearly on the ape
'attern as was compatible with their
working on a human skull of normal
width. Although the facts
re still scanty il is evident that the fur
her human remains are traced back in
time the more marks they re-
ain Of an apelike ancestry. They sug-
lest a gradual approach to a primitive
crest animal with an overgrown brain.
which was destined to begin a funda-
mentally new departure in organic evo-
ution."