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The Institute for Creation Research (ICR) Suckered by an
April Fool's Day Joke

In April 1997, Discover magazine ran a short article about the discovery of a number of Neandertal musical instruments.   These included a tuba made from a mammoth tusk, a bagpipe which the Neandertals might have played through their noses, a xylophone, a cave painting of marching musicians and a skull.

Needless to say, it was all an April Fool's joke.  At least, it should have been needless to say it, but on September 9 2000, what do we hear but the very same "finds" being touted by the ICR as "overwhelming evidence" of musical talent by Neandertals!  (You can find the broadcast at http://www.icr.org/radio/rad-0009.htm)

The "finds" were made by a Dr. Oscar Todkopf of Hindenburg University.   "Todkopf" is a concatenation of the German words for "dead" and "head" (maybe the Neandertals were Grateful Dead fans!) and the Hindenburg was the hydrogen-filled airship which burnt catastropically in 1937 (maybe there's a connection between flaming gasbags and the ICR ...)

For more details, and a copy of the original article from Discover, check out http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/homs/aprilfool.html.

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