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forgery

The relics humans have chosen to worship over the course of human history can often help us understand the extent of belief systems and the anatomies of faith. Source: Top: Village Preservation Blog Bottom: epic_images / Adobe Stock; Public domain; Golden Palace Events

Footprints, Fairies and even a Foreskin: 9 Bizarre Relics from History

From time immemorial, people had the need to venerate objects of great significance: religious relics, mythical symbols or depictions of holy figures. As if in answer to this need, the religious...
Dr Valentina Rossi of University College Cork, Ireland, who led the research team which discovered that a 280-million-year-old lizard fossil is, in part, a forgery. Source: Zixiao Yang/University College Cork

The Oldest Fossil Reptile from the Alps is Declared an Historic Forgery

A 280-million-year-old fossil that has baffled researchers for decades has been shown to be, in part, a forgery following new examination of the remnants. The discovery has led the team headed by Dr...
Etching by Francisco Heylan depicting the discover of the Lead Books of Sacromonte. Source: Public domain

The Lead Books of Sacromonte: Historic Forgery or a True Christian Relic?

The Lead Books of Sacromonte, also known as the Libros Plúmbeos or the Sacromonte manuscripts, are a collection of purportedly ancient religious texts that were supposedly discovered in the 16th...
The controversial Sponsian coin. Source: The Hunterian / University of Glasgow

‘Fake’ Gold Coins Prove Roman Emperor Sponsian Was Real

For many years, a hoard of Roman coins uncovered in Transylvania in 1713 were thought to be forgeries, with the ancient coinage displaying the name of an apparently “lost” emperor known as Sponsian...
One of the Sinaia lead plates. Source: Vatra Stră-Rumînă

The Sinaia Lead Plates: Dacian Treasure Trove or Impressive Fakes?

It was 1875 when 200 mysterious artifacts known as the Sinaia lead plates unexpectedly turned up at the Museum of Antiquities in Bucharest, Romania. They were all rectangular, apart from one, and...
Study by Yale University Experts Proves Vinland Map is a Hoax

Study by Yale University Experts Proves Vinland Map is a Hoax

Scholars at Yale University have just completed a comprehensive analysis of the Vinland Map , a cartographic representation of the northeastern North American coast that was supposedly created in the...
Landowning houses used charters to confirm their ownings. Source: Thomas Mucha / Adobe Stock.

Forged Medieval Charters: How To Rewrite History In The Middle Ages

At first glance, charters seem to be nothing more than obscure and boring legal documents, as dull in the Middle Ages as they are today. On closer examination however, there is much more to charters...
Latter Day Forgeries: The Hoax of the Kinderhook Plates

Latter Day Forgeries: The Hoax of the Kinderhook Plates

In the 19th century, golden plates were discovered in Kinderhook in the United States. They were meant to reveal an ancient pharaoh’s lineage, but all was not as it seemed. The first week in May 1843...
Medieval Lawyers Used Sheepskin Parchment to Prevent Fraud and Forgery

Medieval Lawyers Used Sheepskin Parchment to Prevent Fraud and Forgery

Archaeologists tracing the evolution of British legal practices discovered one area where innovation was discouraged: the parchments for documents. From the 13 th to the 20 th century AD, British...
Like the Dead Sea Scrolls pictured here, the Shapira scroll (and remember the original fragments have “disappeared”!) has both its champions and sceptical experts who doubt key details in the “story.”

Infamous Biblical Shapira Scroll Deemed A Forgery May Be Real!

The Shapira scroll, a purported ancient biblical manuscript that had been previously dismissed as a hoax, is actually authentic , says an Israeli-American scholar who has been carefully studying...
Fakes and Controversy on the River Clyde: The Case of Dumbuck Crannog

Fakes and Controversy on the River Clyde: The Case of Dumbuck Crannog

In 1898 the eccentric artist and archaeology enthusiast William Donnelly (1847 – 1905) discovered the Dumbuck Crannog site on the banks of the River Clyde in Scotland . Its excavation proved fruitful...
traditional craftsman creates silver money

Desperate, The Tribes of Israel Turned to "Fake Silver"

Iron Age silver forgeries have been identified by a team of Israeli researchers. This might illustrate the economic hardships of the Tribes of Israel and their decision to make fake silver...
The Vinland Map: A Most Non-European Artifact

The Vinland Map: A Most Non-European Artifact

The Vinland Map carries with it the air of mystery and, some would say, the stench of deception. In the vaults of Yale University, and insured for $25 Million, it is either a colossal fraud or an...
Archaeologist Busted for Faking Artifacts Showing Jesus Crucifixion

Archaeologist Busted for Faking Artifacts Showing Jesus Crucifixion

Archaeologists stand on trial, accused of faking a collection of holy artifacts including the earliest depiction of the crucifixion of Christ. Archaeologist Eliseo Gil, geologist Óscar Escribano, and...
Detail of ‘Christ in the House of Martha and Mary’ (1886) by Henryk Siemiradzki. Questions abound on the Gospel of Jesus’ Wife and the relationship between Mary and Jesus.

Forgery or a Lost Account? Examining the Authenticity of the Gospel of Jesus’ Wife

...not [to] me. My mother gave me life... The disciples said to Jesus,... deny. Mary is (not?) worthy of it. ... Jesus said to them, "My wife... she is able to be my disciple... Let wicked people...
The supposed St Clement relic that was found by Envirowaste workers in London, UK.

Bones of the First Pope Found in a London Rubbish Bin? It would have to be a Miracle

A rubbish removal firm in London has made a potentially staggering archaeological discovery, in a pile of waste. According to the respected Smithsonian Institute, Envirowaste workers, while looking...
Mellaart claimed to have found these engraved schists at Çatalhöyük. These sketches were also found in Mellaart's apartment.

The Posthumous Disgrace of the Dark Master of Archaeological Hoaxes

Today, we are reminded that the world of archaeology is no different from oil, banking, chess clubs and churches. Wherever a group of people are to be found, while the greater part are honest folk...
‘The Last Judgment’ triptych (open) (1467-1471) by Hans Memling.

Prophecy of the Popes: Are We Reaching the End of Days?

For thousands of years, people all over the ancient world claimed to have the powers of foresight. In 1143, The Prophecy of the Popes was created - listing the future attributes of the 112 pontiffs...
The Decalogue, The Keystone, and a 19th century plan of the Newark Earthworks, and Tawa, the sun spirit and creator in Hopi mythology.

Did David Wyrick Find the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail Near Newark, Ohio?

For 157 years, archaeologists, religious scholars, anthropologist, politicians, scientists, and historians—everyone except Native Americans—have tried to prove that the two stones and one small cup...
Set of 70 Metal Tablets May Have the Earliest Written Account and Depiction of Jesus

Set of 70 Metal Tablets May Have the Earliest Written Account and Depiction of Jesus

When a set of 70 bound metal tablets was unearthed in Jordan in 2008, questions about the artifacts validity arose. However, researchers have now analyzed the codices and say they are genuine and may...
13th Century Maya Codex, Long Shrouded in Controversy, Proves Genuine

13th Century Maya Codex, Long Shrouded in Controversy, Proves Genuine

Brown University’s Stephen Houston and a team of leading researchers in anthropology and Maya archeology methodically verify the authenticity of the oldest known manuscript in ancient America...
The text resembles Cyrillic letters, according to experts.

Is The Book of Veles a great Slavic text or a charlatan’s forgery?

The Book of Veles is so controversial it is banned in Russia. Its supporters say it lays out cultural, religious and historical facts about Slavs from the 7 th century BC until the 9 th century AD,...
The so-called ‘Gospel of Jesus’ Wife’.

Did Jesus Have a Wife? New Tests on Ancient Coptic Papyrus May Give Answers

The controversial “Gospel of Jesus’s Wife” has been undergoing rigorous forensic testing and academic analysis to determine if the fragment of papyrus is authentic or not. The much-debated gospel, if...
Papyrus referring to wife of Jesus

Scientists say papyrus referring to wife of Jesus is no fake

In September, 2012, a faded fragment of papyrus, which has controversially come to be known as 'The Gospel of Jesus’s Wife', made international headlines when it was unveilled by Harvard Divinity...