Giant Skeleton Hoax
Category: OsteologyPosted on: December 15, 2007 12:52 PM, by afarensis, FCD
This is equal parts funny (that people were taken in by it) and sad (because it doesn't say much about scientific literacy). The hoax revolves around a picture of a giant skeleton. The picture was part of a photo manipulation contest but rapidly took on a life of its own. Here is the picture:
According to the person who created the photo:
IronKite started with an aerial photo of a mastodon excavation in Hyde Park, New York, in 2000. He then digitally superimposed a human skeleton over the beast's remains.
The later addition of a digging man presented the biggest technical challenge.
"If you look, he's holding a yellow-handled shovel, but there's nothing on the end," IronKite said.
"Originally, the spade end was there. But [it] looked like it was occupying the exact same space as the skeleton's temple, making the whole thing look fake.
"Now it looks like he's just holding a stick, and people don't notice. It's funny."
IronKite also altered the color of the man's clothing to create a "uniform tie-in" with the white-shirted observer peering down from the wooden platform.
What happened next is that a number of media outlets and internet sites reported the find as real. People from various religious backgrounds around the world believed it because it confirmed religious myths about giants in the past. As the National Geographic article puts it:
David Mikkelson of Snopes.com said such hoaxes succeed when they seem to confirm something people are already inclined to believe, such as a prejudice, political viewpoint, or religious belief.
A hoax also needs to be presented "in a framework that has the appearance of credibility," he said in an email.
Category: OsteologyPosted on: December 15, 2007 12:52 PM, by afarensis, FCD
This is equal parts funny (that people were taken in by it) and sad (because it doesn't say much about scientific literacy). The hoax revolves around a picture of a giant skeleton. The picture was part of a photo manipulation contest but rapidly took on a life of its own. Here is the picture:
According to the person who created the photo:
IronKite started with an aerial photo of a mastodon excavation in Hyde Park, New York, in 2000. He then digitally superimposed a human skeleton over the beast's remains.
The later addition of a digging man presented the biggest technical challenge.
"If you look, he's holding a yellow-handled shovel, but there's nothing on the end," IronKite said.
"Originally, the spade end was there. But [it] looked like it was occupying the exact same space as the skeleton's temple, making the whole thing look fake.
"Now it looks like he's just holding a stick, and people don't notice. It's funny."
IronKite also altered the color of the man's clothing to create a "uniform tie-in" with the white-shirted observer peering down from the wooden platform.
What happened next is that a number of media outlets and internet sites reported the find as real. People from various religious backgrounds around the world believed it because it confirmed religious myths about giants in the past. As the National Geographic article puts it:
David Mikkelson of Snopes.com said such hoaxes succeed when they seem to confirm something people are already inclined to believe, such as a prejudice, political viewpoint, or religious belief.
A hoax also needs to be presented "in a framework that has the appearance of credibility," he said in an email.
The "ancient giant" has both elements, according to Mikkelson.
"It appeals to both a religious and a secular vision of the world as different and more fantastic than mere science would lead us to believe," he said.
Because worm eating fungi and tool using chimps aren't fantastic enough...
Aerial Views
Since the bones were to be removed from the pit that Saturday and Sunday, a cherry picker was present to aid in documenting their positions before removal. Here are a couple of views from the overhead bucket of the cherry picker.
This overview of the pit shows the catwalk and dams. The skeleton itself is mainly in the upper left quadrant of the image, with one tusk behind a dam below and to the left of the main skeleton. You can get some idea of the wet conditions; the green hose at the right center is perhaps 3 inches in diameter and is constantly pumping water out of the pit. Click on the image for a high-resolution version (973x875, about 1.2MB).
Finally, a detailed view of the skeleton itself. This find is interesting because of the completeness (at least 90% at last report), preservation state, and articulation of the skeleton. Articulation means that many of the bones are still in their original positions relative to each other.
At the top left, the pelvis is visible. At the bottom center of the image, several vertebrae are still articulated, as are several just to the right of top center. An array of ribs is visible between these two groups. At almost the exact center of the image, the lower jaw is visible, with most teeth intact. The skull, which was in good condition, has already been removed from the pit. To the right of the jaw, among the ribs, a hole in the mud is visible; this is actually a spring, spewing water into the pit continously. Click on the image for a high-resolution version (1258x1032, about 1.4MB).
At the lower right is an intact tusk behind a plywood dam and under a protective coating of mud. A major challenge is to allow this tusk to dry without having it shatter into fragments. In fact, the whole skeleton was periodically re-wetted with a garden hose to keep it from drying in an uncontrolled fashion.
