Kenneth Oakley
Encyclopedia
Kenneth Page Oakley was an English physical anthropologist
, palaeontologist and geologist.
Oakley, known for his work in the relative dating
of fossils by fluorine
content, was instrumental in the exposure in the 1950s of the Piltdown Man
hoax.
Oakley was born and died in Amersham
, Buckinghamshire.
Physical anthropology
Biological anthropology is that branch of anthropology that studies the physical development of the human species. It plays an important part in paleoanthropology and in forensic anthropology...
, palaeontologist and geologist.
Oakley, known for his work in the relative dating
Dating methodology (archaeology)
Dating material drawn from the archaeological record can be made by a direct study of an artifact or may be deduced by association with materials found in the context the item is drawn from or inferred by its point of discovery in the sequence relative to datable contexts...
of fossils by fluorine
Fluorine
Fluorine is the chemical element with atomic number 9, represented by the symbol F. It is the lightest element of the halogen column of the periodic table and has a single stable isotope, fluorine-19. At standard pressure and temperature, fluorine is a pale yellow gas composed of diatomic...
content, was instrumental in the exposure in the 1950s of the Piltdown Man
Piltdown Man
The Piltdown Man was a hoax in which bone fragments were presented as the fossilised remains of a previously unknown early human. These fragments consisted of parts of a skull and jawbone, said to have been collected in 1912 from a gravel pit at Piltdown, East Sussex, England...
hoax.
Oakley was born and died in Amersham
Amersham
Amersham is a market town and civil parish within Chiltern district in Buckinghamshire, England, 27 miles north west of London, in the Chiltern Hills. It is part of the London commuter belt....
, Buckinghamshire.
Publications
- Piltdown man, Bobbs-Merrill, 1955
- Man the Tool-Maker, Bulletin of the British MuseumBritish MuseumThe British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
(Natural History), 1949, 6th edition 1972 - The succession of life through geological time, British Museum, 1967
- Frameworks for dating fossil man, Weidenfeld & NicolsonWeidenfeld & NicolsonWeidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd is a British publisher of fiction and reference books. It is a division of the Orion Publishing Group.-History:...
; 3rd ed, 1969 - Catalogue of Fossil Hominids: Africa, British Museum, 1977
- Catalogue of Fossil Hominids: Americas, Asia, Australia, Smithsonian InstitutionSmithsonian InstitutionThe Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
Proceedings, 1981 - Relative dating of the fossil hominids of Europe, British Museum, 1980