Missing Fossils and Fake Fossils

By

David Plaisted PhD
Fossils

Four giant stone hand axes were recovered from the dry basin of Lake Makgadikgadi in the Kalahari Desert. How big would a human have to be to use such a giant stone tool?

Fossils and human artifacts are of tremendous importance for tracing the development of life and of humans throughout history. Therefore it is important that our knowledge of these fossils and artifacts should be as complete as possible. However, there is evidence that some significant fossils and artifacts have been found and kept, but are not being shown to the public. For example, on an email discussion group I heard about a person who had seen about two dozen human skulls that are twice as large as the skulls of humans living today. These were in a display of anomalies shown to anthropologists. Would not such a discovery be of tremendous importance for understanding human history? Somehow I actually managed to trace down this person’s telephone number and call them up. They verified that they had seen such skulls, which were definitely human and twice as large as skulls are today. They said they had seen about half a dozen such skulls. Probably these were only the best skulls, and the remaining dozen and a half were of poorer quality or smaller fragments. Who knows what other anomalies are stored in the basements of museums, out of sight? This incident reveals a lot about the mentality of scientists today. What does not fit in with the theory of evolution is considered an anomaly and kept out of sight. Of course, with such an attitude, the fossils that are studied will tend to support the theory of evolution, and so the choice of fossils to consider predisposes their conclusions in favor of evolution.

Surely the scientists know that such skulls would be of tremendous interest to the public and to creationists. In fact, I believe that there is a conspiracy of some kind among a small number of scientists to keep the truth from the public, although the great majority of scientists are not involved in it.

There was another case in which it was claimed that fossils were hidden away from the public. This is hard to verify, but considering the first incident it is plausible:

A friend of mine, in recent years, had a long talk with a New Zealand girl called Lisa Kerr. She’d done extensive traveling, like many young New Zealanders, who head out on their traditional OE (overseas excursion).

Lisa, amongst several jobs she got around the world, worked for a while with the New Mexico Park’s Department. During her term of employment there was a big “washout” in one of the Park regions and I’m assuming it was up in Pueblo country around Taos.

The flash flood scoured out embankments and in doing so a large number of anomalous skeletons were exposed. Lisa and her colleagues were assigned the task of gathering up the remains and placing them into crates. Also in attendance at the site were Smithsonian Institute officials and FBI agents.

Each day as Lisa and the other Park’s Department employees went onto the site, they were searched for cameras.

Similarly they were searched as they left the site each day to make sure they weren’t removing artifacts. They were also obliged to sign “secrecy documents” ensuring that they would never divulge details of their participation in this undertaking. The reason for this degree of secrecy stems from the fact that the skeletons were of people who were about 8 feet tall. They had six fingers on each hand and six toes per foot. They also had a strange, double row arrangement of teeth.

The crates containing the recovered remains, at the termination of work, were taken away by the Smithsonian officials and, undoubtedly, will never be seen again. 1

There is other evidence of giant humans, as well. Some giant tools were recently found in Africa. 2 “Four giant stone hand axes, measuring over 30 cm long and of uncertain age, were recovered from the lake basin.” (See Figure 1) The research was done by Oxford university researchers from the the dry basin of Lake Makgadikgadi in the Kalahari Desert and was reported in September 2009. How big would a human have to be to use such a giant stone tool?

Furthermore, in the Antiquities of the Jews, the historian Josephus gives some interesting information about the physical qualities of giant remains:

For which reason they removed their camp to Hebron; and when they had taken it, they slew all the inhabitants. There were till then left the race of giants, who had bodies so large and countenances so entirely different from other men, that they were surprising to the sight, and terrible to the hearing. The bones of these men are still shown to this very day, unlike to any credible relations of other men. 3

The following excerpts are taken from The Fossil Giants of Castelnau, quoting from La Nature: revue des sciences et de leurs applications aux arts:

…M. G. de Lapouge has recently made a discovery which tends to re-open this question.

At the prehistoric cemetery of Castelnau, near Montpellier, which dates from the eras of polished stone and bronze, he found last winter, among many crania, one of enormous size, which could only belong to a man very much over 2 meters (6 ft. 6 in.) in height, and of a morphologic type common in the dolmens of Lozère.

It was the skull of a healthy youth about 18 years of age.

Moreover, in the earth of a tumulus of vast extent, containing cists of the Bronze Age, more or less injured by superposed sepulchers of the early Iron Age, he found some fragments of incontestably human bones of enormous size. For instance, part of a tibia 0.16 meter in circumference, part of a femur 0.13 meter in girth, and the inferior part of a humerus twice the ordinary dimensions.

Everything considered M. de Lapouge estimates that the height of this subject must have been about 3½ meters (11.5 ft.)—that is to say, a veritable giant, according to the popular notion. 4

Because gigantism has been found in the fossils of many animals, it is only reasonable that giant humans also existed in the past.

In addition to fossiles, human artifacts can also be denied or hidden. An interesting probable case of this is the Ica stones from Peru. 5 These stones appear to show humans fighting dinosaurs, complex medical operations on the human body, and various long-extinct animal species.

The Ica stones were first discovered in 1966 by Dr. Javier Cabrera, who was given one of the stones as a gift. Cabrera obtained many of these stones from a peasant named Basilio Uschuya, and from these and other sources Cabrera collected over 15,000 such stones over the next thirty-five years. Cabrera initially believed that the stones had been carved by local people for profit but later concluded that the stones were real ancient artifacts. In 1973 Uschuya asserted that he had forged the stones during an interview with Erich von Däniken but later withdrew that claim during an interview with a German journalist, saying that he had claimed they were a hoax to avoid imprisonment for selling artifacts. In 1977, during the BBC documentary Pathway to the Gods, Uschuya produced a “genuine” Ica stone with a dentist’s drill and claimed to have produced the patina by baking the stone in cow dung. In 1996, another BBC documentary was released concerning the stones after which Uschuya was arrested as under Peruvian law it is illegal to sell archaeological discoveries. Uschuya then asserted that they were hoaxes, saying, “Making these stones is easier than farming the land,” but he also said that he had not made all the stones.

Clearly not all of the stones could have been recently made. The Indian chronicler Juan de Santa Cruz Pachachuti Llamgui wrote in about 1570 that many carved stones were found in the Kingdom of Chperu-tomb, in Chinchayunga. This was where Ica is located today. Some of these stones were taken back to Spain. Also, the OJO, Lima Domingo, a major newspaper in Lima, Peru on October 3, 1993 described a Spanish priest traveling in the area of Ica in 1525 inquiring about the unusual engraved stones with strange animals on them. 6

Don Patton writes concerning these stones:

Swift, McQueen and I went to the village of Ocucaje, met and talked with Bacilleo Achua, the grave robber mentioned in the video, who admitted manufacturing some of the stones with a hack saw blade. He says police were present when he was asked, “Did you manufacture the stones you sold to Dr. Cabrera?” If he said no and admitted that they came from the tombs, he had no doubt that he would go to prison. The average life expectancy in a Peruvian prison is two years. He has a wife, six children and a flock of kin folk depending on him for a living…

We were able to determine that Carlos Soltè, Rector of the University of Engineers in Lima excavated similar burial stones near village of Ocucaje back in the 50’s. Upon his death in 1968, his brother, Pablo Soltè, donated the collection of stones to the Museum of Peru-tomb where they are presently housed or more accurately hidden. Dr. Swift and I were told by the Assistant Director that these stones did not exist. When it became obvious that we knew better and had seen pictures of them, it was acknowledged that they were in the museum, but were in storage. We were told that a letter of request and a day’s notice were required to see them. We complied. When we returned we were very sheepishly told we simply would not be allowed to see the stones. We were stonewalled.

The popular media acts as if it has been shown that these stones are a hoax, which is clearly doubtful. This shows the bias of the media, and the whole situation is another instance of a cover-up of an evidence in favor of creationism. How many other fossils and artifacts with sensational evidence about the past are similarly denied and covered up?

Even if a non-expert finds an unusual fossil such as a fossil of a giant human, he will not necessarily know what it is. He will ask the experts who will probably take it away and store it somewhere out of sight. Even if the nonexpert knows what the fossil is, an article and picture of the fossil may get in a local newspaper, but it will soon be forgotten unless it is put in a museum. Thus the chance that such a fossil will become widely known to the public is very small. This shows the importance of expert creationists doing fossil hunting and having their own museums.

One person, only identified as “Raina” who worked in a museum, wrote to Jonathan Gray, an amateur archaeologist, as follows:

I retired early because I couldn’t take the museum politics and the lies. After leaving the Detroit museum and moving to Florida taking over the Department of Archaeology and (Director of Education) it was rough.

I decided rather then teach lies, I would leave the museum to become a full time artist. Something I always loved. Now at 61 I am a much happier person not having to deal with the bureaucrats and all their shenanigans! I now teach in my home for the truth seekers. 7

Not only can fossils and artifacts be covered up, but even living organisms apparently can be as well. The following item was translated from Diarios De Los Andes., with some editing. 8

A man who lives in the town of Nihuil, Argentina is said to have seen an object that he could not identify. He took photos of the object with his cellular phone and he believes that it is a UFO (unidentified flying object). “I saw it and by luck was able to take several photos of it.” The fishing fanatic said that he did not want to reveal his identity. According to the story published in the diariosanrafel.com.ar today (September 7, 2009), the resident of Nihuil saw the unknown object flying over the lake in the late hours of Saturday afternoon. The man who made this “incredible” discovery, at first, did not want anyone to find out about what he had seen. But a friend convinced him to present the news to the press, relates the early riser. He was not afraid during the encounter. Besides he continued, “I liked it because they are things that are of interest to me, since I believe that alien life must exist on other planets.” He affirmed the sighting in handwritten declarations to the press. After snapping the images on the telephone, he realized that the unknown object in the sky had disappeared.

Two blurry pictures of the creature were included with the news story and can be found at the web site.8

There have even been reports of flying glowing creatures, and two videos have been taken of them. 9 The first video was taken over Guadalajara, Mexico in June, 2004, and the second was taken over San Francisco Bay in November, 2007. There have been many other reports of such creatures, which resemble the ancient pterosaur. It would not be surprising if our military with its powerful spy satellites already knows about these creatures.

Not only can fossils, artifacts, and living organisms be hidden, but fossils can also be fabricated. For example, the “Piltdown Man” collected in 1912 was a fabricated fossil believed to be the remains of an early human. It was believed to be a missing link between human and ape, but was exposed in 1953 as a forgery consisting of the lower jawbone of an orangutan that had been deliberately combined with the skull of a fully developed modern human. 10 Thus over 40 years elapsed before it was exposed as a forgery.

Human nature has not changed, and if there were fabrications in the past, there will also be fabrications in the future. Sometimes there can be mistakes, as well. For example, Nebraska Man was named in 1922 from a humanlike tooth which had been found in Nebraska. This tooth allegedly bore common characteristics of both man and ape, and the popular press identified it as a species of ape. An illustration of Nebraska Man was done for the Illustrated London News and depicted it as a human ancestor. When a researcher named William Bryan opposed these conclusions relying on a single tooth, he was harshly criticized. However, this fossil may not have been widely accepted in the scientific community. Later it was shown to be a tooth from an animal closely related to pigs. 11 ,12

For a more recent example, in November 1999, National Geographic Magazine published an article about what they thought was a new fossil species that appeared to be part dinosaur, part bird. “Archaeoraptor” was claimed to be the missing link between the two. A few months later, however, it was revealed to be a fake. There has also been debate concerning the fossil Archaeopteryx, whether it is a fake, and some still believe it to be a forgery. 13

Concerning the fabrication of human artifacts, Shinichi Fujimura was a Japanese amateur archaeologist who claimed he had found a large number of stone artifacts dating back to the Lower Paleolithic and Middle Paleolithic periods. These objects were later revealed as forgeries. He participated in 180 archaeological digs in northern Japan. Based on his discoveries the history of the Japanese Paleolithic period was extended to about 300,000 years. Most archaeologists did not question Fujimura’s work, and his discoveries were written in the history textbooks. Later he gained a position as a deputy director at the private NGO group Tohoku Paleolithic Institute. On October 23, 2000, Fujimura and his team announced that they had another finding at the Kamitakamori site near Tsukidate town. On November 5, 2000, the newspaper Mainichi Shimbun published pictures of Fujimura digging holes and burying the artifacts his team later found. The pictures had been taken one day before the finding was announced. Fujimura admitted his forgery in an interview with the newspaper. 14

As another example, Reiner Protsch von Zieten was a German anthropologist who published false carbon dating data of human fossils. He was a researcher at the University of Frankfurt. Protsch made some serious mistakes in carbon dating, which were later exposed. The University of Frankfurt began an investigation. In 2004 investigative journalists of Der Spiegel magazine noticed that Protsch’s claims of being a descendent of Prussian general Hans Joachim von Zieten were fabricated and therefore his “von Zieten” title was false. Der Spiegel also claimed that Protsch did not really know how to handle his carbon dating equipment. The University of Frankfurt suspended Reiner Protsch on April 2004. On February 18, 2005 the university forced him to retire because of “falsehoods and manipulations.” Archaeologist Thomas Terberger of the University of Greifswald is quoted as saying that “Anthropology is going to have to completely revise its picture of modern man between 40,000 and 10,000 years ago. Prof Protsch’s work appeared to prove that anatomically modern humans and Neanderthals had co-existed, and perhaps even had children together. This now appears to be rubbish.” 15

In addition to fossils and artifacts, results of scientific experiments can be fabricated. For example, eight papers by Hendrik Schon published in the journal Science were withdrawn at the request of his co-authors. Schon, 32, was a scientist at Lucent Technologies’ Bell Labs. He published more than 80 papers in top journals, but an outside investigating committee appointed by Bell Labs concluded that Schon had fabricated data or altered experimental results in at least 16 projects between 1998 and 2001. Schon, the committee found, “did this intentionally or recklessly and without the knowledge of any of his co-authors.” At least eight of Schon’s research reports were published in Science. 16

Also, in a report by Reuters on January 5, 2006, the journal Science said it would retract a paper by Korean stem cell researcher Hwang Woo-suk and colleagues concerning a study on embryonic stem cells. 17 The team was accused of fabrications and unethical practices. Hwang claimed some breakthroughs in embryonic stem cells, but was accused of fabricating the research and of coercing female subordinates into donating their eggs for experiments.

Although there are some examples of fakes and fabrications in science, the total number of scientific papers and results that have been retracted is only a small percentage. The great majority of scientists do not fabricate fossils, artifacts, or research results.

Some fakes and fabrications of the past were easy to discover, but fakes made today might be much more sophisticated and escape detection. The most likely fossils to be fabricated are those that come from a remote area with only a few people having seen their site of origin, as well as fossils of great importance to the theory of evolution, for who would fabricate a fossil otherwise? However, not many fossils overall could be fabricated because of the time and expense required and because many fossils have been found in many locations by many different groups.

The fabrications that have been exposed show that scientists are only human. However, a more subtle kind of fabrication occurs, that of interpretation, when the data are not faked but are made to support a theory that they really do not support.

And why should there not be some fabrications and even deliberate misinterpretations? According to the atheistic evolutionary philosophy of many scientists, there is no God and no reason to be moral except the fear of getting caught. Evolution teaches the survival of the fittest; there is no umpire to make sure organisms fight according to any particular set of rules.

The question of the origin of life is a very high stakes controversy, and both sides know it. In fact, it is more than a human controversy; it is a spiritual controversy between the forces of good and evil. We are not fighting against flesh and blood, but against spiritual hosts of wickedness in high places (Ephesians 6:12). But we also have the spiritual hosts of righteousness on our side to give us the victory.

Despite all the efforts of some scientists to obscure the truth, many people are able to see through the smoke screen that the evolutionists have created. Many people are smart enough or perceptive enough to pierce through the deceptions and to see that this world and the life on it did not arise through unguided physical processes.

One day the truth about creation and evolution will be revealed. But even today, the fallibility of scientists has been amply demonstrated. Let’s not let our faith be weakened or destroyed by human scientists with human failings, both of morality and of intellect. The conclusions of science change, but the Lord says, “I am the Lord, I change not.” Malachi 3:6. Also Jesus said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” Matthew 24:35 As the evidence in favor of creation continues to mount, let us rely on the Word of God as our only sure guide amid the confusions of these last days instead of relying on man.