This was potentially one of the earliest examples of human remains ever found, older even than the recent discoveries of Neanderthal man in Germany, and the excitement only grew when this jaw bone appeared. Now you have to believe me here, that is an ape-like jaw. Right. But with rather worn flat, slightly human-shaped teeth, and it was put together as our little friend over there. The man behind the thrilling discovery was local solicitor and amateur archaeologist Charles Dawson. He wrote to his friend and eminent museum palaeontologist Arthur Smith Woodward, unable to hide his patriotic pride. Now I'm paraphrasing, but basically what Dawson is saying in this letter is, "Yippee, I've found a human skull that rivals the one in Germany." What's interesting is not so much about the science, it's about the competition, and I think what it really shows is that the English were absolutely desperate to find that missing link.


这可能是迄今为止出土的最古老的人骨残片，甚至比最近德国发现的尼安德特人更古老，又一块颌骨出土，人们更为兴奋了，颌骨。 它确实很像猿类颌骨 是的，上面的牙又有点像磨平了的人类牙齿，拼起来后就是我们这位朋友啦。 道森，该"重大发现"归功于当地推销商，业余考古学家查尔斯·道森，他曾写信给一位朋友，著名博物馆考古学家亚瑟·史密斯·伍德沃。信中洋溢爱国情怀，我复述一下，道森信中说道“好耶 我发现了块人头骨，比德国那个牛多啦。” 有趣的是，他不太看重科学意义，而重在与德国竞争，我觉得这也充分显示了当初英国人多么急迫地寻找"迷失的一环"。