Piltdown Man

Pinch, punch . . . in honour of **All Fool's Day** , The History Channel re-lives one of the great hoaxes of the 20th century in Piltdown Man.

Darwin's theory of human evolution was still packing a punch in terms of controversy in 1912 and when two men discovered what could be the 'missing link' between man and beast, modern science held its breath.

A skull and other fossil fragments discovered in Sussex displayed both human and animal features. Many were sceptical, but it was not until the 1950s that conclusive evidence proved that 'Piltdown Man' was, in fact, a fraud. Find out how . . .