Arthur Smith Woodward's hammer



BGS image ID: P815509

The label reads "This hammer was given to Sir Arthur Smith Woodward by an admirer and used at Piltdown and elsewhere, as for instance in Spain, but not in earlier work."

Smith Woodward (1864-1944) joined the Department of Geology at the Natural History Museum in 1882. He became Assistant Keeper of Geology in 1892, and Keeper in 1901. He began excavating at Piltdown in 1912, a few months after Charles Dawson informed him of the first finds there. He continued digging at Piltdown for many years but found nothing after Dawson died in 1916.

A very detailed bibliography of the Piltdown forgery is available to download here.

Andrew L Morrison