Piltdown Man | The Biggest Archaeological Mystery

In Sussex, in 1912, men quarrying in a gravel pit near Piltdown village turned up a human skull. According to Charles Dawson, a lawyer and amateur archeologist with a remarkable track record for finding ancient treasures, it belonged to a palaeolithic man, possibly millions of years old, and was therefore the earliest trace of mankind ever found in England. Greater still, Piltdown man as he came to be known, seemed to be the ‘missing link’ between apes and men. The discovery inflamed and delighted British society, confirming and buttressing dearly held beliefs about the evolution of modern Europeans, and radically transforming understandings of the origins of humanity. In the wake of the find and the widespread corroboration of its authenticity by some of the best academics of the age, further digs were conducted in the area, which unearthed even more wondrous discoveries - a jawbone, primitive tools, and strangest of all, a cricket bat; perhaps the first hint that all was not as it seemed…was the greatest discovery of all time nothing more than an audacious and extraordinarily skilful hoax? And if so, who was the culprit in this grand mystery?
Join Tom and Dominic, as they describe the most mystifying archaeological discovery in English history, and one of the most unscrupulous tricks of all time, revealing as they do the truth behind the history of mankind.
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

[@pascalbercker7487]

Tom Holland: "Summer of 1912 was dreadful .... " - because the Titanic sank you mean? - "no - the cricket season was rained out"!

[@throwback19841]

whatever your perspective, it was too bloody damp by far

[@JimBagby74]

Quite.

[@ninkd0311]

So very British , would not expect anything less

[@marys33794]

🌧 🌦 🌂 ⛈️ ☔️

[@BrigidaRuffo-x7j]

I love the banter between Tom and Dominic

[@wolfgangwalk337]

As a German basically growing up in the Neanderthal (2km away) I enjoyed every second of this. Keep up the great work! Here's to Charles Dawson.

[@joannemoore3976]

Campaigning to give the artifacts back to the dinosaurs 😂🤣 absolutely cracked me up.

[@user-zv9ie5fy1d]

I love this podcast!!! It's the best thing ever.. .

[@johnglenn30csardas]

“Who would have imagined that they would be full of Neanderthals, Tom?!?!” Very funny.

[@rtk3543]

As a Sussex man born and bred this story makes me very proud.

[@123bwlch]

Do English people understand that England as a idea only been around since 900 AD!!!

[@cyclofeedubox8332]

@@123bwlchslightly earlier but yes, especially the ones interested in history. Do you have a point?

[@123bwlch]

@@cyclofeedubox8332 A colony can;t claim something their ancestors was not involved similar to Stonehenge.

[@richardyates7280]

​@@123bwlchSussex (the land of the south saxons) has been around longer than England

[@Springreverb8]

What a beautiful painting depicting wonderfully adorned gentlemen awashed in sublime dramatic lighting gazing down at such a pitiful specimen of bits and bobs.

[@stephenbrubaker5904]

Charming, engaging, enlightening. I've watched your French Revolution podcasts, and am watching the Helen of Troy episode right now. My ambition is to watch all of your podcasts. Thank you!

[@mmminno]

I love the way you are both living for the drama and glazing this liar! 😂😂

[@SterlingHolcomb-db9fc]

Thank u 4your work!

[@FiveLiver]

"Humanity [reached[ its final, and most perfected form in England" indisputably true Dominic. 2:36

[@JamesBarry-j7m]

I thought you were talking about the summer of 1914 which everyone who lived through it including Edith Wharton remembered it being absolutely the most beautiful summer they could ever remember in their lives

[@Tugela60]

The poppies appreciated all the free fertilizer they got.

[@hudsoninbury]

I was drawn to watch this excellent video because at the beginning of the 1980s i was decorating the home of an elderly lady in a sheltered accommodation complex in Brighton who during our daIĺy discussions expressed her life long torment in knowing who was involved in the Piltdown hoax. She claimed she spent many of her teen age years with a group of friends who planned it all. I was not knowledgeable on the subject at the time but was always impressed by her apparant sincerity and seemingly deep guilt for being aware of this knowledge.

[@barrytraversen2850]

Is it unfair to point out the moment of grand pathos right at the end when the eminent Sandbrook realises that his eulogising of a light-weight pseudo-academic fraudster might not be quite the right look?

[@ropeburnsrussell]

The Rest is Fraudulent.

[@Tugela60]

If one guy who is not a scientist makes a long string of extraordinary and surprising finds, alarm bells should be going off! It is very likely the finds are all fake.

[@carolross6583]

Great fun.

[@rubenjames7345]

Great episode!

[@sleepydrJ]

Wonderful!

[@timcowling8458]

Tom Holland did you get beeped at today at about 5pm by a white truck down a narrow lane near Kelso whilst driving a silver Renault van on 18/09/24? If so, that was me! 🤣

[@LeoneNut]

I'm a big fan of Arthur Conan Doyle, and around 1912, he wasn't as into Spiritualism/Seances at that point (just an interest), in fact he wasn't very religious for a number of years. The First World War changed that and he went full on into it from c.1916 until his death in 1930. So don't think that as much of a factor as you think.

[@TheTamilian]

Every child in the country? We don't all live within a bus ride of central London, nor does the rest of the country have hugely subsidised public transport to get into London, or England as some people call it.

[@BigBadBank]

Top subject

[@Renato-n1b]

Much much better you guys calling it a hoax, not a prank! Great conversations, lernead a lot about French Revolution from you guys and went back to study it under a new light.

[@SeattleForge]

I’d love to see you cover Hayreddin Barbarossa if you can find the time.

[@thermionic1234567]

I think you’re shadowbanned. I haven’t received any notification about new material for months.

[@jono8884]

Have you considered the events documented in Devil In The White City?

[@Renato-n1b]

Not a prank...

[@crxspybacon123]

Archaeology’s heheh

[@brendanvoge7651]

Now do crop circles!

[@neilokeefe9647]

Yes more hoaxes please

[@roseschneier5788]

Tom, please comb down your cowlick-distracting!

[@jayp7003]

What's the issue with Virginia Woolf?

[@thejoin4687]

She's not a fan of The Rest Is History.

[@rustomkanishka]

​@@thejoin4687I think she died long before podcasts became a thing.

[@rustomkanishka]

They've referred to her as "Not a friend of the Pod" on multiple occasions. She's a known snob and that's why Dominic doesn't seem to like her. It's also known that she was an aristocrat known to be absolutely vile towards her employees/staff/servants. (Of course, since this podcast only includes two men speaking to each other and Ms Woolf is a known feminist, it's easy to label the podcast sexist or hate speech and move on)

[@karlernstbuddenbrock371]

Pretty accurate image of the entire farce known as the theory of evolution.

[@johnrohde5510]

You just don't get it.

[@tommonk7651]

Better to allow some to think you ignorant than to open your mouth (or type on your device) and remove all doubt....

[@1969cmp]

....Piltdown Man, Nebraska Man, Peking Man, Lucy.....there is a pattern. ​@@tommonk7651

[@Time_Is_Left]

As opposed to?

[@Tugela60]

Evolution is not a theory, it is a fact. The theory to explain it was the theory of natural selection.

[@hobonickel840]

Darwin was the real prank ... evolution with accounting for the DNA changing blasts of radiation from the Sun everytime it cycles through a micronovas is pure satire. About as funny as world wide nuclear bomb testing to cover for the gamma radiation levels left behind as evidence of such DNA changing blasts from our cyclically pulsating star... Everytime I hear the term "missing link" I cringe. Nothing happens on this planet of which the Sun doesn't control in a huge way as the cornerstone for all changes and even the changes related to our current flocculations

[@rustomkanishka]

Are you always this silly or is today a special day for you?

[@kjhlkyu]

Haha! You believe in the Sun?!? Wake up Sheeple

[@hobonickel840]

@@kjhlkyu oh boy, that found a bot fly quickly didn't it lol ...now if you could try Socratic method via questions instead of exposing your intellect as that of coagulating drool or better, regurgitating wotan rhetoric .. I'll be here hahaha

[@hobonickel840]

@@kjhlkyu btw ... the term sheepke is lagging by a few decades my brother.. then again that would require etymology ... "sheeple" .. so cringe. How old are you dear child of Hamlin? Do you need a flashlight ?

[@cyclofeedubox8332]

@@rustomkanishkait is a Wednesday tbf, perhaps it’s a sort of bump day mania

[@allauddin732]

The evolution theory is from lost position.

[@johnrohde5510]

Incredible that any literate person could be so ignorant.

[@Time_Is_Left]

As opposed to?

[@rustomkanishka]

If possible, please ride your magical carpet to a library or use the internet to read up. You sound ignorant and you're making the rest of us look bad. This isn't racist, dear fellow, I'm also part of the "let's go spend hours with airport security" club, just read my name.

[@ShitterMcGavin]

YOU GUYS ARE SO AWESOME!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE LISTENING TO YOUR STORIES!!! THANK YOU!!!