Pilt·down man (p lt doun )n. A supposed early species of human postulated from a skull allegedly found in a gravel bed in about 1912 but determined in 1953 to be a fake constructed from a human cranium and the jawbone of an ape. [After Piltdown Common in southeast England.] |
Piltdown man [ˈpɪltˌdaʊn]
n
(Earth Sciences / Palaeontology) an advanced hominid postulated from fossil bones found in Sussex in 1912, but shown by modern dating methods in 1953 to be a hoax, which was perpetrated by a student museum assistant who was refused a wage
| Piltdown man (pltdoun) A presumed early species of human, Eoanthropus dawsoni, postulated from a skull supposedly found in a gravel bed in about 1912 but determined in 1953 to be a fake constructed from a human cranium and the jawbone of an ape. |
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
| Noun | 1. |  Piltdown man - a supposedly primitive man later proven to be a hoaxprimitive, primitive person - a person who belongs to an early stage of civilization |
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