The Cardiff Giant and the Piltdown Man hoaxes are two famous stories amongst archaeologists and historians. The two scandals were successful in fooling the public, but there are some differences in the motives and the impact the two scenarios had. 

Stub Newell and George Hull, behind the Cardiff Giant hoax, were motivated by nationalism, scientific ideology and fame. The Piltdown Man was believed to put England on the map in terms of human evolution since it was the only European power country that had not found a significant fossil in terms of human evolution. Also, the promoted the brain centered hypothesis that humans evolved first by increased brain activity and subsequently body physiology. One reason why the hoax was believed by so many was due to it being the missing factor in the brain centered hypothesis, and in turn caused a big change in the human past ideologies.  Along with supporting the beliefs of Dawson and Woodward, the hoax also brought fame and notoriety to the two. 

The motives behind the Cardiff Giant were also ideology based. In this case, George Hull wanted to prove a point in terms of his religious beliefs. Hull was an atheist and had a confrontation that had led him to commit the fraud to prove that people would believe anything from the bible. The Cardiff Giant supported stories of giants living on the Earth, and the petrified man standing ten feet tall was the perfect find to fool the public with. Stub and Hull also made boatloads of money off of their trick. In today’s standards it is believed to have produced millions of revenue for the two hoaxers. Many traveled to Cardiff to pay entry just to view Stub’s Goliath of Cardiff. Investors and others offered Stub money for the giant man; PT Barnum even made a replica when Stub refused to rent the fossil out to him. Many believed in the Cardiff giant because it supported the biblical stories of their religion, but also supported Hull’s claims that the bible was filled with tales only the gullible would believe. 

I believe that science is an ever-changing subject. Even thought these two hoaxes showcase a couple of crooked scientist pulling off tricks to fulfill their own ideologies and motivations, that does not mean that scientists that have expectations in their work cannot be trusted. In the case of the Piltdown man, it was early in the field of human evolution, since the hoaxes occurrence so many discoveries have been made and changed the whole understanding of human past.