All the way from 20th Century misconceptions...
Models of the right half of the lower jaw
1. Chimpanzee 2. Piltdown man 3. Heidelberg man 4. Neanderthal man 5. Modern man.
Illustrating the gradual development of the prominent bony chin.
How did it get here?
Nobody knows - is it possible the object was borrowed (reference) and an old professor is owed back this object from the Grant museum.
So what was it used for?
Teaching or public exhibition. It can only be viewed from one angle accurately so it was likely hung on the wall to be seen from a distance in a gallery or lecture theatre.
What's the story?
This mount of five jaw casts shows the development of your bony chin (an important feature of human skulls). However, it contains an imposter. The Piltdown man was the biggest hoax of the 20th century, where an orangutan jaw and a human skull were planted in Sussex before chemical testing showed them as fake! Before that however, Piltdown man was thought to be the missing link between modern man and chimps. Therefore, it incorrectly spread information about man’s evolution. Is this unethical? What's the its purpose now and in the future?
Courtesy UCL, Grant Museum of Zoology
Collection: Grant Museum of Zoology, kept unprotected on the mezzanine floor in the Grant museum (Carnall, 2015; pers. com).
Modern name: Mandible Casts Various Species
Original name: Models of the right half of the lower jaw of 1. Chimpanzee 2. Piltdown man 3. Heidelberg man 4. Neanderthal man 5. Modern man. Illustrating the gradual development of the prominent bony chin.
Accession Number: Z2538
Previous object Numbers: 930; CA85
Inferred date: 1912 - 1953
Why should you care?
This object shows how important it is to question science. The significance comes from what can be learnt about the history of science and beliefs at the time. So use it as an example to your science teachers when they say "science is fact".
What it look likes.
These photographs were taken the object's current home of the Grant Museum. Have you noticed the brown sections? This was where its maker signified broken bits of the originals. This is a problem because they could have made up the shape of the jaw. Also, all the jaws are the same size, so they are not accurate representations of an entire species, just one chosen specimen. Why is this a problem?
The skull at the end of a slide show is a Neanderthal Skull cast: it shows you what the full skull of the Neanderthal jaw displayed may have looked like.
What do you think?
- Do you think it is worth keeping? What the point of keeping a false object or displaying it?
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What else might be false in science today? Think of some examples which would change the way we live if they were wrong.
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What can we learn from false objects? Think about the importance of proving things wrong.
Acknowledgements
With special thanks to UCL Grant Museum and curator Mark Carnall, for allowing access and photography of the object.