History is a funny thing. There’s so much of it that we just don’t know anything for sure. Sometimes, truly artful frauds and forgeries have emerged to put historians and scholars in their place. These deceptions have been especially costly, both financially and in terms of setbacks to archaeological knowledge. Below we dive into the ten most infamous and expensive archaeological forgeries that left a lasting mark on the field.
1 Brigido Lara’s Pottery
When Brigido Lara was convicted of looting some of Mexico’s most valuable antiquities, he turned the tables with an unexpected defense: he claimed he was not a thief but a forger. While incarcerated, Lara demonstrated that the artifacts in his possession were his own creations by producing additional pieces and presenting them to the same experts who had previously authenticated the originals.
Further investigation revealed that Lara had been crafting replicas for over two decades, producing thousands of items that he considered original artistic interpretations rather than mere copies. His oeuvre spanned styles of the Maya, the Aztec, and most notably the Totonac civilization, which flourished from the 7th to the 12th centuries. Arrested in July 1974 and released by 1975, his talent secured him a museum position, yet it also made many parties uneasy.
Employed by the Xalapa Anthropology Museum, Lara was permitted to continue his work. Although his pieces were signed and clearly marked as reproductions, it gradually emerged that an estimated 40,000 of his creations had already entered the market, with museums and private collectors spending fortunes on them. Lara’s “original interpretations” ended up on display at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the Saint Louis Art Museum, and in high‑value private collections. When the governor of Veracruz attempted to repatriate native artifacts by purchasing a major collection from Sotheby’s, Lara informed him that the lot consisted entirely of his own forgeries. Ironically, much of what scholars believe they know about the Totonac culture stems from the study of Lara’s fabricated pieces.
2 Drake’s Plate
The legend says Sir Francis Drake stopped in a California bay in June 1579, and while his ship was being refitted, he commissioned a brass plaque to mark the claim of the land for his queen. Supposedly discovered in 1936, metallurgical analysis supported its authenticity, and the plaque was acquired by the Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley.
This turned out to be a classic case of a forgery spiraling out of control. For decades, scholars debated its legitimacy until 2003, when the truth emerged: the plate was fabricated by members of the California Historical Society, an art dealer, and an engraver, specifically to deceive Herbert Bolton, the library’s director and a member of the society. Bolton, obsessed with locating the artifact, had been urged by colleagues to fulfill his dream.
Using text from a 1628 account of Drake’s voyages, the conspirators forged, chiseled, heated, and aged the plaque. They even painted the letters “ECV” in fluorescent paint on the reverse, intending it as a prank. Before they could confess, the forgery passed expert scrutiny, and Bolton, along with historical society president Alan Chickering, paid $3,500 for it. Because the conspirators were part of a tight‑knit professional circle, a confession proved difficult, allowing the fake to sit proudly in the library for decades. It wasn’t until the death of the involved parties that Lorenz Noll, an art dealer, signed an affidavit in 1954 declaring the plate a fake. By then, the hoax had ignited a 50‑year archaeological debate about Drake’s route and even featured in the 1939–40 Golden Gate International Exposition.
3 Charles Dawson’s List Of Fakes
Charles Dawson is most famously linked to the Piltdown Man. In 1912, the amateur archaeologist announced the discovery of a skull he believed to be the elusive “missing link.” It wasn’t until 1949 that further testing revealed the skull was a composite of a modern human cranium and an orangutan’s jaw, dramatically setting back British paleontology.
The true forger behind Piltdown remains debated, but Dawson’s involvement is widely acknowledged. Yet many scholars argue he could not have executed the hoax alone, especially after his post‑mortem papers exposed a wider pattern of deceit. Dawson was later tied to 38 additional “artifacts,” ranging from ancient hammers and statuettes to axes and Roman tiles. Described as a serial forger and serial finder, he conveniently “discovered” many of his own fabrications, planting them for maximum impact.
Dawson’s mischief extended beyond archaeology: he fabricated records of rare bird sightings in Sussex, introduced bogus horse skulls with horn traces, invented a hybrid fish, claimed English Channel sea serpents, and even suggested rocks concealed petrified toads. Theories about the Piltdown hoax’s masterminds include Arthur Conan Doyle, seeking revenge against a secular scientific establishment; Martin Hinton of the Natural History Museum, who possessed materials similar to those used in the forgery; and Jesuit philosopher Teilhard de Chardin, who opposed excavations that contradicted religious narratives. Ultimately, Dawson’s legacy inflicted a heavy cost on British scientific credibility, though the forgery itself was not particularly sophisticated.
4 Archaeoraptor
The so‑called Archaeoraptor was “found” in 1999 and exposed as a hoax by Nature in 2002. The specimen, touted as a missing link between birds and dinosaurs, fetched $80,000 from an eager buyer before its true nature was revealed.
Originating from Liaoning Province, China, the fossil turned out to be a composite: the remains of a small, fish‑eating bird were glued to the bones of a diminutive dromaeosaur. Ironically, the two species used in the forgery were the first known examples of each, suggesting the forgers deliberately selected iconic specimens. The fossil’s provenance from a region renowned for bird‑dinosaur transitional fossils lent it credibility.
Archaeoraptor is one of many fossils illicitly exported from China, where strict laws prohibit such trade. The black market thrives, and some argue that the forgers—often underpaid workers—glued ancient bones together not purely out of deceit but to survive financially. This ethical gray area forces paleontologists to scrutinize all Chinese fossils with heightened skepticism.
5 The Etruscan Warriors
In 1961, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York reluctantly admitted that three life‑size Etruscan warrior statues on display were forgeries. While the pictured statue is authentic, the others were fabricated by Italian forgers Riccardo Riccardi and Alfredo Fioravanti, who continued a centuries‑old tradition of terra‑cotta counterfeiters that began with the Pirelli family.
The forgers set up a studio near a plausible excavation site, producing terra‑cotta plaques that were marketed as artifacts from a mysterious Italian temple. Lacking a kiln large enough for full‑size statues, they broke the pieces before firing, later attributing any damage to age. After painting the fragments, they sold the assembled, brightly colored statues to the Met.
Critics had long suspected the statues were fake, noting that the vivid pigments were inconsistent with ancient materials and that a single piece could not have been fired whole. In 1955, a skeptic claimed the statues were made from ground‑up beer bottles—a claim later disproved. Extensive testing finally confirmed that the statues could not have been produced as a single piece and that the paints were modern, confirming the forgers’ deception.
6 Moses Shapira And Deuteronomy
Moses Shapira began his career as a reputable antiquities dealer, trusted by museums in England and Germany for sourcing rare texts. By 1883, the British Museum regularly procured artifacts from him. However, that July, Shapira presented scholars with a manuscript he claimed was a previously unknown version of Deuteronomy, composed of 15 parchment pieces.
Experts quickly denounced the scroll as a fraud, accusing Shapira of merely translating a modern text onto ancient‑looking parchment. Shapira blamed biblical scholar Christian Ginsberg and other experts for ruining his reputation, and six months later he took his own life. The manuscript, initially offered for £1 million, sold at auction after his death for a few shillings.
Shapira asserted that Bedouins had supplied the parchment in 1878. While many believed the climate of the region would have destroyed such a document, the later discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls proved ancient parchments could survive. German scholars first labeled the manuscript a forgery, a verdict reinforced by French archaeologist Clermont‑Ganneau, who had previously exposed Shapira’s involvement in other counterfeit artifacts. By the time Ginsberg publicly declared the scroll fake, Shapira’s reputation was irrevocably tarnished, and the manuscript vanished from public view. Whether Shapira was the genuine forger or a victim remains unresolved, though records suggest he sold over 1,700 forged items to the Berlin Museum in the 1870s.
7 Lead Books Of Sacromonte
Between March 1588 and April 1595, 22 lead tablets were unearthed in the hills surrounding Granada, Spain. Inscribed in Arabic and translated by church officials, the plates purportedly contained Christian texts, including a letter from San Cecilio, Granada’s patron saint, and prophecies attributed to John the Baptist.
Initially displayed publicly, the tablets soon attracted skepticism. Over the next 150 years, debate persisted until the Vatican, in 1682, officially condemned the plates as containing false doctrine. Forgotten for centuries, the tablets resurfaced in 1999, were returned to Granada in 2000, and reignited scholarly curiosity.
Most scholars now agree the lead books were not contemporary with San Cecilio’s first‑century mission. The prevailing theory holds that Morisco exiles—Muslim Spaniards expelled during the Reconquista—fabricated the tablets to bridge Christian and Muslim narratives. Researchers point to two Morisco scholars, Miguel de Luna and Alonso del Castillo, as likely authors. Their text deliberately blends Christian and Islamic motifs, referring to Jesus as “the spirit” rather than the Son of God, aiming to create a syncretic document that could appease both faiths. The tablets remain housed at the Abbey of Sacromonte in Granada.
8 Eugene Boban And The Crystal Skulls
The myth of crystal skulls has long captivated both believers and skeptics. Central to the controversy is French antiquarian Eugene Boban, who spent two decades in Mexico before returning to France, claiming to have sourced authentic pre‑Columbian artifacts for exhibition.
Boban’s sales catalogues reveal a seasoned dealer familiar with archaeological sites, yet they also list items he openly labeled as fakes, offering them for study to expose fraudsters. Among his most infamous offerings was a large crystal skull, which he attempted to sell to the Smithsonian despite warnings that he could not be trusted.
Boban’s relentless promotion of the skulls eventually led to one entering the British Museum, though the National Museum of Mexico declared it an outright forgery. He was also linked to a series of smaller skulls, about five centimeters tall, further cementing his reputation as a key figure in the heated debate over the authenticity of these enigmatic artifacts.
9 George Hull And Solid Muldoon
George Hull is best remembered for the Cardiff Giant, a fabricated petrified man that captivated 19th‑century America. In 1876, Hull attempted a second hoax in Colorado, creating the “Solid Muldoon,” a clay‑and‑plaster figure unearthed in Beulah, Colorado, in September 1877.
Hull added theatrical touches: the figure’s head snapped off, revealing what appeared to be vertebrae, and a monkey’s tail was attached, prompting claims that the specimen represented both a giant and the missing evolutionary link. Suspicion grew when observers noted the absence of a genuine excavation pit. The famed showman P.T. Barnum soon partnered with Hull, investing $15,000 and taking a 75 percent share of profits. The hoax persisted until a collaborator exposed the fraud, ending the public’s fascination.
10 The Kinderhook Plates
When Joseph Smith announced he had translated the golden plates forming the foundation of Mormonism, skeptics responded by creating their own set of forgeries: the Kinderhook Plates. Discovered in 1843 in Kinderhook, Illinois, the six plates bore mysterious characters and were allegedly found alongside a giant’s skeleton.
Smith reportedly translated part of the plates, claiming they identified the discoverer as a descendant of Ham and contained a family history. For decades, the plates were accepted as genuine until forensic analysis in 1980 proved the surviving plate was a 19th‑century creation.
The deception was traced to William Clayton, Smith’s secretary, whose notes had been taken as proof of translation. Once the plates were exposed as fakes, scholars questioned Clayton’s credibility, suggesting he either misinterpreted Smith’s words, recorded them incorrectly, or fabricated the translation entirely. Today, most scholars agree Smith never truly translated the Kinderhook Plates, recognizing them as a historical hoax.
These ten costly archaeological forgeries not only drained fortunes but also reshaped scholarly discourse, reminding us that the pursuit of ancient truth can sometimes be clouded by human ambition and deception.