Editing Archaeological forgery (section)

{{Short description|Manufacture of supposedly ancient items}}
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[[File:Gosfordglyphs.jpg|thumb|The [[Gosford Glyphs]], a set of forged [[Egyptian hieroglyphs|Egyptian-style hieroglyphs]] in Australia]]
'''Archaeological forgery''' is the manufacture of supposedly ancient items that are sold to the [[Antiquities trade|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 [[Excavation (archaeology)|archaeological excavation]]s. 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 era|pre-Columbian]] pottery from South America have been very common. Other popular examples include Ancient Egyptian [[earthenware]] and supposed ancient [[List of cheeses|Greek cheese]]. There have also been paleontological forgeries like the [[archaeoraptor]] or the [[Piltdown Man]] skull.