I honestly don't think there is much of a mystery about Piltdown any longer. Dawson is the obvious culprit - he had motive, opportunity and method. There were other fakes he had produced, too.
The "cover up the actual fossil" idea is a great one for a story, but I don't see any evidence of it in the history of Piltdown and that period. People will do a great deal for fame... and it is hard to underestimate the sensation Piltdown caused. You also need to remember the desperate need of the British (and I speak as one) to be first at this point. The most important fossils had been found in continental Europe. That was regarded as a direct challenge to British supremacy. Piltdown made us 'top' again.
I'm told by my husband who knows the material better than me that the jaw was recent, and at most the cranium was a few hundred years old. The "cricket bat" was genuine fossil material but was re-worked with a steel knife. So te chances of a over-up of an actial fossil seems unlikely
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The "cover up the actual fossil" idea is a great one for a story, but I don't see any evidence of it in the history of Piltdown and that period. People will do a great deal for fame... and it is hard to underestimate the sensation Piltdown caused. You also need to remember the desperate need of the British (and I speak as one) to be first at this point. The most important fossils had been found in continental Europe. That was regarded as a direct challenge to British supremacy. Piltdown made us 'top' again.
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