One of the most successful scientific hoaxes of all time was the skull of Piltdown man. Mr Charles Dawson, an amateur archaeologist, discovered the skull and jaw of a supposed missing link in 1912, along with a pile of other fossils and stone-age tools. Late in that year, Mr Dawson and an Arthur Smith Woodward of the Natural History Museum announced the find. At the time, it was lauded as a great wonder, as it supported Darwin's Theory of Evolution. Then, later investigation proved that the fossils at Piltdown were fabricated; which mislead a lot of people into foolishly believing that all fossils (and evolution) are a lie.

The creative use of real bones and fossils was the real clincher in this hoax. It was constructed from the mandible a juvenile female orang-utan, but the molars and canine tooth had been artificially filed, and the hinge was broken to prevent the discovery that it did not properly articulate with the skull. The other skull fragments recovered from the site were, on the other hand, definitely human, although of unusual thickness and construction. They had all been stained to a similar colour, with a weird chemical mixture containing iron, manganese and chromium.

It is now generally believed that Martin A.C. Hinton, former curator of Zoology at London's Natural History Museum, perpetrated the hoax. Though, at times, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle or Mr Charles Dawson have been accused 'salting' the Piltdown site, Hinton was known as a practical joker. Letters suggest that his motive was to get revenge on his boss, Arthur Smith Woodward. Hinton believed Woodward had never given him the acknowledgement he deserved.

Hinton died in 1961. In 1988, a canvas trunk that had belonged to Hinton was found at the London's Natural History Museum. It contained elephant teeth, pieces of a fossil hippopotamus, and other such bones - the exact same types as discovered with the Piltdown Man's skull. These bones were stained with iron and manganese in exactly the same proportions as the Piltdown samples. So they hunted for chromium, which was also discovered in the teeth of the specimens. Bingo! They had a match.
So, after 76 years, the perpetrator of the fraud was revealed.

The list of frauds and other bamboozling events is endless. We have the "Great Moon Hoax", where the lunar landings are supposed to be giant stage productions by the United States. I could have a hard time refuting this possibility…but then, I would have a hard time proving my own existence, with the special effects available to a big budget. Lets just say - how do you explain all that moon rock?

The Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot aren't really hoaxes. They are myths! Even in Australian, we have the Yowie and the Bunyip, mysterious animals that are sighted from time to time. You could almost include the Tasmanian Tiger in this phenomena, though I will be the first to scream with happiness if a real, live specimen is ever discovered. Humans are experts at finding monsters in the shadows (or under the bed).

I have presented just a couple of the more interesting examples of the weirdness that can occur when mere mortals interpret the 'supposed' facts. Human want to find patterns, and find patterns they will - even if no real pattern exists.

Merry Christmas!!! Stay safe and be well, with love from your Science Queen.

In the early 1970's, journalist Jack Reynolds announced that a tribe with a Stone Age level of 'hunter and gatherer' civilization had been found in the rainforest of the Philippines. Anthropologists, historians and scientists of every kind, each with their own pet theory or agenda, then inundated the poor tribe; the Tasaday were to be studied in a detail never before observed by the scientific community.

For a short time, they were given the same media attention as a popular rock band. The world was at the height of the 'flower power' era, and the Tasaday became famed for having no words for war or weapons; this was all occurring as the violent images of the Vietnam War haunted every newscast.
The, the Tasaday were accused of being a bunch of actors pretending to be a primitive tribe, paid for by Manguel Elizalde of the Panamin Corporation. It was believed that the only reason Elizalde made them famous was so that he could take the land associated with the tribe. It had been proven the gentleman had taken land from other tribes based on the assumption that they were unique or special.
As well, the scientists began a flurry of revealing evidence that the tribe wasn't as 'primitive' as at first surmised. The Tasaday, by this time, were using modern clothes and implements. Then, someone pointed out that the tribe had little in the way of historical refuse - old broken tools, animal bones and the like - that pointed to the tribe being of fairly recent origins.

Now, once the tribe was contacted by the outside world, modern cultural influences couldn't be avoided. The tribe did have a unique language, which even the children were fluent in. They did appear to have a consistent culture, though it was very light on details like rituals and religion.
At present, the Tasaday are believed to be a group of people who descended from members of neighbouring tribes that were evading slave hunters. They adapted to living in the forest and created their own hunter/gatherer culture. This may have happened in the last one thousand years or less. This would explain a lot of the 'inconsistencies' discovered in their culture by the flocking boffins. They a certainly not a Stone Age culture, as first announced.

Presently, the Tasaday are growing in population thanks to intermarriages with their neighbours, the Manobo tribe. They are also learning how to farm and leave their hunting and gathering ways as a secondary way of obtaining food. No longer the centre of media attention, they are finding their own way into the modern world.