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Archaeological forgery

{{Short description|Manufacture of supposedly ancient items}}

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File:Gosfordglyphs.jpg, a set of forged Egyptian-style hieroglyphs in Australia]]

Archaeological forgery is the manufacture of supposedly ancient items that are sold to the antiquities market and may even end up in the collections of museums. It is related to art forgery, and can overlap for certain periods.

A string of archaeological forgeries have usually followed news of prominent archaeological excavations. Historically, famous excavations like those in Crete, the Valley of the Kings in Egypt and Pompeii have caused the appearance of a number of forgeries supposedly spirited away from the dig. Those have been usually presented in the open market but some have also ended up in museum collections and as objects of serious historical study.

In recent times, forgeries of pre-Columbian pottery from South America have been very common. Other popular examples include Ancient Egyptian earthenware and supposed ancient Greek cheese. There have also been paleontological forgeries like the archaeoraptor or the Piltdown Man skull.

Motivations

Most archaeological forgeries are made for reasons similar to art forgeries – for financial gain. The monetary value of an item that is thought to be thousands of years old is higher than if the item were sold as a souvenir.

However, archaeological or paleontological forgers may have other motives; they may try to manufacture proof for their point of view or favorite theory (or against a point of view/theory they dislike), or to gain increased fame and prestige for themselves. If the intention is to create "proof" for religious history, it is considered pious fraud.

Detection

Investigators of archaeological forgery rely on the tools of archaeology in general. Since the age of the object is usually the most significant detail, they try to use radiocarbon dating or neutron activation analysis to find out the real age of the object.

Criticisms of antiquities trade

Some historians and archaeologists have strongly criticized the antiquities trade for putting profit and art collecting before scientific accuracy and veracity. This, in effect, favours the archaeological forgery. Allegedly, some of the items in prominent museum collections are of dubious or at least of unknown origin. Looters who rob archaeologically important places and supply the antiquities market are rarely concerned with exact dating and placement of the items. Antiquities dealers may also embellish a genuine item to make it more saleable. Sometimes traders may even sell items that are attributed to nonexistent cultures.

As is the case with art forgery, scholars and experts don't always agree on the authenticity of particular finds. Sometimes an entire research topic of a scholar may be based on finds that are later suspected as forgeries.{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}}

Known archaeological forgers

File:Kinderhook plates.png, buried and then excavated at a mound in Illinois in the United States]]

Known archaeological forgeries and hoaxes

File:Piltdown man.jpg skull, a famous palaeoanthropological hoax]]

  • Grave Creek Stone, "discovered" in 1838
  • Kinderhook plates, "discovered" in 1843
  • Calaveras Skull ("discovered" 1866), purported to prove that humans lived in North America as early as the Pliocene Epoch (5.33–2.58 MYA)
  • Cardiff Giant ("discovered" 1869), carved gypsum statue presented as a petrified man, over {{Convert|10|ft|m}} tall
  • Davenport Tablets (discovered 1877–1878), ornately carved slate tablets of purported Native American origin, but dubious authenticity
  • Michigan Relics, "discovered" in 1890
  • Tiara of Saitaferne in Louvre, which announced its acquisition in 1896
  • "Egyptian mummy" ca. 1898, purchased from the estate of Confederate Colonel Breevoort Butler in the 1920s, the "mummy" was found to be a wooden frame covered with papier-mache; it is on display at the Old Capitol Museum in Jackson, Mississippi with its true nature openly revealed
  • Piltdown Man, "discovered" in 1912
  • Etruscan terracotta warriors purchased by New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art from 1915 to 1921; announced as forgeries in 1961
  • Drake's Plate of Brass (discovered 1936), purported to have been left by Francis Drake after landing in Northern California in 1579
  • Japanese Paleolithic hoax, starting in the 1970s
  • Persian Princess, forged ancient mummy, possible murder victim,{{cite journal |last1=Romey |first1=Kristin M. |last2=Rose |first2=Mark |date=January–February 2001 |title=Special Report: Saga of the Persian Princess |url=http://www.archaeology.org/0101/etc/persia.html |url-status=dead |journal=Archaeology |publisher=Archaeological Institute of America |volume=54 |issue=1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121118222027/http://www.archaeology.org/0101/etc/persia.html |archive-date=2012-11-18 |access-date=2019-06-08}} found in 2000

Cases generally believed by professional archaeologists to be forgeries or hoaxes

File:Head of the Neo-Sumerian ruler Gudea, ruler of Lagash. Fake artifact; archaeological forgery. It was supposed to be sold as a genuine ancient Mesopotamian piece. Confiscation; not-on-display. The Sulaymaniyah Museum, Iraq.jpg, ruler of Lagash, a Confiscated forgery; head of the Sumerian ruler Gudea. Sold as a genuine ancient Mesopotamian piece and now held at the Sulaymaniyah Museum, Iraq.]]

Cases that several professional archaeologists believe to be forgeries or hoaxes

Cases that some professional archaeologists believe to be forgeries or hoaxes

  • Phaistos disc
  • Gabriel's Revelation
  • Cascajal Block
  • Mask of Agamemnon
  • Glozel tablets (archeological site discovered 1924), set of 100 inscribed ceramic tablets found in an authentic Medieval site among other artifacts of mixed authenticity and period{{Cite journal |last=Gerard |first=Alice |date=2004-08-01 |title=The Scientific Analyses of Glozel |url=https://www.academia.edu/4357376 |journal=Actes du 6ème Colloque Glozel}}{{Cite web |date=2010 |title=Sprache & Sprachen 41 |url=http://redaktion.gesus-info.de/S&S-online/S&S_41-2010.pdf |access-date=October 16, 2024 |website=redaktion.gesus-info.de}}

See also

References

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Category:Forgery