week 3 fakes and frauds

Today’s topic--a “controversy”:

Archaeological Fakes

Science

--is a method--is self correcting--uses full context of evidence--tests hypotheses with new data--tests are repeatable, verifiable--is objective: uses information from the world--critical about the source of information--scientists are flexible, they change ideas when wrong

Pseudo-science

--is a set of beliefs disguised as science--no self-correction, just repetition of beliefs--ignores context of evidence--no testing, no data gathering--ignores most evidence--uses out of date information--relies on mistaken ideas--pseudo scientists are inflexible

Feder says that science is about creating laws that will explain past action and predictfuture action, regardless of when and where it takes place.

This may be the case for physical sciences, but is usually not the case for social sciences becausehumans are complex beings…explaining and predicting human behavior can be impossible.

A fake is an object claimed to be much older than it actually is.

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“The truth is that when forgeries go unnoticed we are all victims. When a modern object istaken to be a historical artifact, the past is misrepresented, and hence it is likely to bemisunderstood.” --Kenneth Lapatin

“And because successful forgeries are successful to the degreethat they appeal to our modern ideas and ideals about the past,forgeries can contribute significantly to our tendency tore-create the past in the manner most attractive to our modernneeds and desires.” --Kenneth Lapatin

Fake snake goddessclaimed to be from Crete,

1500 BC

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Brian Reinhardt:known to have madeand sold thousandsof stone artifacts tocollectors whoassumed the artifactswere ancient.

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Ancient Chinese Bronzes,Zhou dynasty, 1000-250 BC

Fake snake goddessclaimed to be from Crete,

1500 BC

Smithsonian Museumof Natural History,Washington D.C.

British Museum,London

Musée de l’Homme, Paris

1) Provenience

What clues suggest that an artifact is a fake?

1) Provenience2) Provenance

-History of ownership of an artifact

What clues suggest that an artifact is a fake?

1) Provenience2) Provenance

-History of ownership of an artifact3) Style

What clues suggest that an artifact is a fake?The Michigan relic

1) Provenience2) Provenance

-History of ownership of an artifact3) Style4) Materials analysis

What clues suggest that an artifact is a fake?

Temple of the Inscriptions, Palenque, Mexico

Crystal Skull,on display at The British Museum, London

National Museum of the American IndianNew York City

Mitchell Hedges Crystal Skull

New Smithsonian National Museum of theAmerican Indian, Washington DC

Frederick Mitchell Hedges(Left: at ruin of Lubaantun, Belize)

Anna Mitchell Hedges(daughter of Frederick Mitchell Hedges)

--Provenience--Provenance--Style--Manufacturing Technology

Thomas Gann:discoveredLubaantun

in 1903

Mitchell Hedges:taken to Lubaantun

in 1924 by Gann,then claims HEdiscovered it!!

Frederick Mitchell Hedges(Left: at ruin of Lubaantun, Belize)

Anna Mitchell Hedges(daughter of Frederick Mitchell Hedges)

Anna Mitchell Hedges(daughter of Frederick Mitchell Hedges)

Ruins of Lubaantun, Belize, Central America

Jane Walsh: debunker of Mitchell Hedges Skull

--Provenience--Provenance--Style--Manufacturing Technology Sotheby’s auction catalogue

--Provenience--Provenance--Style--Manufacturing Technology

British Museum SkullMitchell Hedges Skull, superimposed on theyellow outline of the British Museum skull

--Provenience--Provenance--Style--Manufacturing Technology

Jane Walsh: debunker of Mitchell Hedges Skull

Cut mark madeby a stone tool

Cut mark made bya diamond drill

Electron microscopeimage of a cut mark

from the MitchellHedges skull

Cut mark madeby a stone tool

Cut mark made bya diamond drill

Getty Kouros

Hairstyle:Corinthian,600 BC

Getty Kouros

Feet:Attic,525 BC

“Greek, about530 BC, or

modernforgery”

displaytag says:

Getty Kouros as it is displayed in the Getty Museum

Jane Walsh: debunker of Mitchell Hedges Skull

Slides beyond here not presented in class

Initial glyph

God N

Atole(maize gruel)

Drinkingvessel

Name (notdeciphered)

title (notdeciphered)

The text is a “name tag”, identifying function and owner of the pot