Table of contents : Introduction. Famous fossils, hidden histories -- The old man of La Chapelle: the patriarch of paleo -- Piltdown: a name without a fossil -- The Taung Child: the rise of a folk hero -- Peking Man: a curious case of paleo-noir -- The ascension of an icon: Lucy in the sky -- The precious: Flo's life as a hobbit -- Sediba: TBD (to be determined) -- Afterword. O fortuna!: a bit of luck, a bit of skill.