While both the Cardiff Giant and Piltdown Man hoaxes were deliberately created to deceive, their motivations for doing so are for the most part different. In both cases, money and fame, which tied hand in hand, were clear motivations to those involved in the frauds. However, there are significant driving factors that are drastically different between the cases. The Piltdown man hoax was very, very clearly connected with nationalistic motives. During the 19th century, there was an abundance of archaeological findings among western European powers and England, before Piltdown, had not made any significant discoveries. The Piltdown hoax allowed England to receive the recognition that they were missing and stay competitive with other countries- especially since their archaeological finding was the only one that supported the “brain centered” perspective of human evolution that most scientists believed in. 

The two hoaxes were successful for mostly different reasons. In the case of the Piltdown man, success could be attributed to mostly natinonalistic reasons. If the human remains in England (Piltdown) date back earlier than those found in other countries, this in a way, renders them superior or smarter than other nations because they evolved first. Because of this, people wanted to believe the artifacts were real so they could feel better about their nation. Also, since there had not already been evidence found supporting the brain centered theory, people wanted to believe the authenticness of this “outstanding discovery” so that there finally could be proof. In the case of the Cardiff Giant, it was successful mostly due to people having strong religious faith. The whole idea of giants was originally found in traces throughout the bible, and upon the Cardiff giant “discovery”, the public simply used it to support their preconceived conceptions. Also, there was a monetary aspect to its success. Stub Newell, the one who found the “giant”, showcased his finding and exploited it intensely to make money. Although he (as far as we know) was not aware of the hoax, he did not question the validity either. The giant also sparked the interest of other wealthy investors who wanted a share, which increased publicity. 

The Piltdown Man impacted the public’s understanding of the human past by implanting a shrewd of doubt about the human past constructed by archaeology. It also demonstrates how the record of the human past constantly morphs to fit new discoveries and changing ideals. For the Cardiff Giant, the reveal to the public of the giant being a fake also raised skeptic’s opinions regarding archaeologists and the human past as they have been told. 

In terms of both hoaxes, I believe that both show that even “objective” scientists cannot be trusted to apply a skeptical eye to data when it fulfills their desires and expectations. Regarding both, there were scientists on both sides of the spectrum of belief/ disbelief. These scientists who did believe in the obviously faked artifacts chose to ignore the red flags raised because it is what best suited their interests’. While they did not necessarily mean to deceive the public, as they did have some belief themselves, they are considered trusted sources by the public so since they showed support of the discovery’s validity, it was safe for the public to believe it too.