Editing Archaeological forgery

{{Short description|Manufacture of supposedly ancient items}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{More citations needed|date=June 2019}}
{{original research|date=June 2019}}
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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.

==Motivations==
Most archaeological forgeries are made for reasons similar to art forgeries&nbsp;– 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 [[historian]]s and archaeologists have strongly criticized the [[antiquities]] trade for putting profit and [[Private collection|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|thumb|The engraved [[Kinderhook plates]], buried and then excavated at a mound in Illinois in the United States]]
* [[Curzio Inghirami]] (1614—1655), 17th century Italian archaeologist and historian known as a forger of [[Etruscan civilization|Etruscan]] artifacts
* [[Edward Simpson (forger)|Edward Simpson]] (b. 1815, {{Floruit}} 1874), [[Victorian era|Victorian]] English forger of [[prehistoric]] [[Stone tool|flint tools]]. He sold forgeries to many British museums, including the [[Yorkshire Museum]] and the British Museum
* [[Moses Wilhelm Shapira]] (1830–1884), Ukrainian purveyor of fake [[Biblical archaeology|biblical artifacts]]
* [[Alois Anton Führer]] (1853-1930), German indologist who forged many inscriptions
* [[Alceo Dossena]] (1878–1937), 19th century Italian creator of many [[Archaic period in classical antiquity|Archaic]] and [[Middle Ages|Medieval]] statues
* [[James Mellaart]] (1925–2012), English [[archaeologist]] and author who is noted for his discovery of the [[Neolithic]] settlement of [[Çatalhöyük]] in [[Turkey]].  After his death, it was discovered that he had forged many of his "finds", including [[Mural|murals]] and inscriptions used to discover the Çatalhöyük site.<ref>[https://popular-archaeology.com/article/james-mellaart-pioneer-and-forger/ "James Mellaart: Pioneer…..and Forger" ''Popular Archaeology'' 11 Oct 2019]</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Beetje gênant, vind je niet? |url=http://www.talanta.nl/publications/previous-issues/2008-tm-201-%e2%97%8f-volume-xl-xlix/2018-%e2%97%8f-volume-50/ |access-date=October 16, 2024 |website=www.talanta.nl}}</ref>
* [[Tjerk Vermaning]] (1929–1986), Dutch amateur archaeologist whose [[Middle Paleolithic]] finds were declared forgeries
* [[Brígido Lara|Brigido Lara]] (b. 1939-1940), Mexican forger of [[Pre-Columbian art|pre-Columbian antiquities]]
* [[Shinichi Fujimura]] (b. 1950), Japanese amateur archeologist who planted specimens on false layers to gain more prestige
* [[Shaun Greenhalgh]] (b. 1961), a prolific and versatile British forger, who, with the help of his family, forged Ancient Egyptian statues, [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] silverware and [[Celtic art|Celtic gold jewelry]] among more modern artworks. Arrested in 2006 attempting to sell three [[Assyrian sculpture|Assyrian reliefs]] to the [[British Museum]].

==Known archaeological forgeries and hoaxes==
[[File:Piltdown man.jpg|thumb|The [[Piltdown Man]] skull, a famous [[Paleoanthropology|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 [[Myr|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|Michigan Relics]], "discovered" in 1890
* [[Tiara of Saitaferne]] in Louvre, which announced its acquisition in 1896
* [[Mummy forgeries#Mississippi State Capitol forgery|"Egyptian mummy" ca. 1898]], purchased from the estate of [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] Colonel Breevoort Butler in the 1920s, the "mummy" was found to be a wooden frame covered with [[Papier-mâché|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,<ref>{{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}}</ref> 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|thumb|Head of [[Gudea]], 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.]]
* [[America's Stonehenge]]
* [[Bat Creek inscription]]
* [[Bourne Stone]]
* [[Burrows Cave]]
* [[Crystal skulls]], claimed to be Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican, but now believed to be modern
* [[Los Lunas Decalogue Stone]]
* [[Newark Holy Stones]]: Keystone tablet and the Newark Decalogue Stone
* [[Walam Olum]]
* [[Shroud of Turin]]
* [[Kensington Runestone]]
* [[Gosford Glyphs]] (discovered in the 1970s), Egyptian hieroglyphs carved into a pair of sandstone walls in New South Wales, Australia; widely acknowledged as modern forgeries, a minority of scholars use the glyphs as evidence of ancient Egyptian contact with Australia

==Cases that several professional archaeologists believe to be forgeries or hoaxes==
* [[James Ossuary]]
* [[Jehoash Inscription]]
* [[Ivory pomegranate]]
* The pieces discovered in 2005-2006 in [[Iruña-Veleia]]

== Cases that some professional archaeologists believe to be forgeries or hoaxes ==
* [[Phaistos disc]]
* [[Gabriel's Revelation]]
* [[Cascajal Block]]
* [[Mask of Agamemnon]]
* [[Glozel artifacts#Glozel tablets|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<ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Art forgery]]
* [[Literary forgery]]
* [[Nebra sky disk]]
* [[Outline of forgery]]
* [[Pious forgery]]
* [[Scientific misconduct]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Archaeological forgery| ]]
[[Category:Forgery]]