In 19,08 the fossilized remains of a man were found in Piltdown, Sussex, in the south of England.. Because these fossils, which came to be called the Piltdown Man, were found.near the remains of mammals known to have lived in the Lower Pleistocene age (also known as the Ice Age), scientists, who back then had ho reliable method of fossil dating, assumed that the Piltdown Man was of that era himself. Some scientists were dubious but Piltdown advocates successfully argued that their man had lived between 200,000 and 1 million years ago.

In 1952 scientists tested the Piltdown Man using the fluorine method of fossil dating. Fluorine accumulates in fossils from groundwater at a predictable rate, so by measuring the fluorine content, assumptions about age can be made. Modern scientists found that the jawbone of the Piltdown Man contained bones of two different ages. X rays confirmed...