Piltdown Man hoax centenary event held

Archaeologists are meeting to discuss the Piltdown Man controversy, 100 years after the faked fossils were presented to the world.

In 1912 remains of a human ancestor were claimed to have been discovered at a gravel pit in Piltdown, East Sussex.

But in 1953 the remains - said to be a "missing" link in the evolution of man and apes - were subjected to new tests and proved to be a hoax.

Dr Matthew Pope of University College London said the event was overdue.

He has organised a conference in Lewes, where Charles Dawson the principal "discoverer" of the hoaxed Piltdown remains, worked as a lawyer [...]

BBC