Archaeological forgery

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 archaeological forgeries. 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.

List

Known archaeological forgers

• Curzio Inghirami (1614—1655), 17th century Italian archaeologist and historian known as a forger of Etruscan artifacts
• Edward Simpson (b. 1815, fl. 1874), Victorian English forger of prehistoric 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 artifacts
• Alois Anton Führer (1853-1930), German indologist who forged many inscriptions
• Alceo Dossena (1878–1937), 19th century Italian creator of many Archaic and 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 murals and inscriptions used to discover the Çatalhöyük site.
• Tjerk Vermaning (1929–1986), Dutch amateur archaeologist whose Middle Paleolithic finds were declared forgeries
• Brigido Lara (b. 1939-1940), Mexican forger of 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, Roman silverware and Celtic gold jewelry among more modern artworks. Arrested in 2006 attempting to sell three Assyrian reliefs to the British Museum.

Known archaeological forgeries and hoaxes

• 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 10 feet (3.0 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
• Tucson artifacts, "discovered" in 1924, thirty-one lead objects that Charles E. Manier and his family found near Picture Rocks, Arizona, which were initially thought by some to be created by early Mediterranean civilizations that had crossed the Atlantic in the first century, but were later determined to be a hoax.
• 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
• Venus de Brizet, sculpted and buried by the artist in 1936; "discovered" in 1937
• Ica stones (created and sold in the 1960s), depict Inca dinosaur-hunters, surgery, and other modern or fanciful topics. Collected by Javier Cabrera Darquea, who claimed them to be prehistoric. Later revealed to be a forgery created by a local farmer.
• Japanese Paleolithic hoax, starting in the 1970s
• Persian Princess, forged ancient mummy, possible murder victim, found in 2000
• Two arrowheads from South Shetland Islands, planted to convince scientists that indigenous peoples of the Americas once crossed the Drake Passage.

Cases generally believed by professional archaeologists to be forgeries or hoaxes

• 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
• Kensington Runestone
• Acámbaro figures (discovered in 1944), figurines of dinosaurs, attributed by Waldemar Julsrud to an ancient society.
• 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
• Wallace Sword
• Ring of Nestor
• The pieces discovered in 2005-2006 in Iruña-Veleia
• Mausoleum of Tangun
• Vérité kiʻi (auctioned 2017), a Hawaiian kiʻi cataloged as c. 1780–1820, which several specialists in Oceanic art have argued is a later imitation

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