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of our evolutionary history; for if we [i.e., Homo sapiens] really go back to the Tertiary, then all the forms of primordial man discovered up to the present are merely parallel forms, interesting in themselves but without any bearing on the history of our own stock.” This conclusion becomes even stronger when we consider discoveries von Koenigswald neglected to mention, such as those made at the Castenedolo site (Section 6.2.2). Putting all the evidence on the table, we appear to be dealing with the coexistence of various fully human and ape-man-like forms rather than evolutionary relationships in which primitive ape-men clearly give rise to the modern human type... Von Koenigswald (1956, p. 180) added: “Hence Piltdown man, more than any other find, introduced an element of uncertainty into our ideas on the course of human evolution; and anyone who takes the trouble to read several books on fossil men will see to his horror that practically every author holds a different view as to the connexions between the known human forms. It is tempting to take refuge in the theory of ‘parallel evolution,’ according to which Homo sapiens is derived direct from Eoanthropus (“Dawn Man”) and all other early hominids are simply ‘collateral forms.’” Parallel evolution, of the kind von Koenigswald described above, is exactly the position that some British anthropologists maintained for several decades.

8.7 Marston’s Crusade

Meanwhile, an English dentist named Alvan Marston kept badgering British scientists about Piltdown man, contending that something was not quite right about the fossils. In 1935, Marston discovered a human skull at Swanscombe, accompanied by fossil bones of 26 kinds of Middle Pleistocene animals. Desiring that his discovery be hailed as “the oldest Englishman,” Marston challenged the age of the Piltdown fossils (Johanson and Edey 1981, pp. 79–80).

In 1949, Marston convinced Kenneth P. Oakley of the British Museum to test both the Swanscombe and Piltdown fossils with the newly developed fluorine content method. The Swanscombe skull had the same fluorine content as the fossil animal bones found at the same site, thus confirming its Middle Pleistocene antiquity. The test results for the Piltdown specimens were more confusing.

Oakley, it should be mentioned, apparently had his own suspicions about Piltdown man. Oakley and Hoskins, coauthors of the fluorine content test report, wrote (1950, p. 379) that “the anatomical features of Eoanthropus (assuming the material to represent one creature) are wholly contrary to what discoveries in the Far East and in Africa have led us to expect in an early Pleistocene hominid.”

Oakley tested the Piltdown fossils in order to determine whether the cranium and jaw of Piltdown man really belonged together. The fluorine content of four of the original Piltdown cranial bones ranged from 0.1 to 0.4 percent. The jaw yielded a fluorine content of 0.2 percent, suggesting it belonged with the skull. The bones from the second Piltdown locality gave similar results.

The fluorine content of some of the Piltdown animal bones was for the most part substantially higher, with one group (Early Pleistocene forms) ranging from

1.9 to 3.1 percent. But another group (Middle to Late Pleistocene forms) ranged from 0.1 to 1.5 percent (Oakley and Hoskins 1950, p. 381). Oakley concluded: “Comparison of the fluorine values of the specimens attributed to Eoanthropus and of the bones and teeth the geological ages of which are certain leaves little doubt that: (1) all the specimens of Eoanthropus including the remains of the second skull found two miles away, are contemporaneous; (2) Eoanthropus is, at the earliest Middle Pleistocene” (Oakley and Hoskins 1950, p. 381).

Giving a more exact estimate of the date, based in part upon his interpretation of the geological age of the Piltdown gravels, Oakley wrote: “Eoanthropus may be provisionally referred to the last warm interglacial period (Riss-Würm interglacial); that is, early Upper Pleistocene, although here it should be noted that some authorities count Riss-W