Cover Photo from the Natural History Museum in New York City.

Museum visitors: be forewarned: It's not just small museums that unknowingly exhibit fakes, but the large, well-known museums, such as the Metropolitan in New York City (the MET), the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston (the MFA).  

First, we'll discover why people make fakes and create hoaxes that end up in museums or past the eyes of experts. 

Then we'll move on to some of the most deceptive archaeological fakes perpetrated in the past century.  With each one, we'll discuss what was faked (or hoaxed), how it was done, who did it, what gave away the fake or hoax - and the results.  These include:

1.  The MFA in Boston exhibits a gold and ivory statuette of a goddess of the ancient Minoan culture from the island of Crete. Visitors to the MFA crowd around the statue to view it.  However, when experts decided that the statue looked "too young" to be from the Bronze Age (3100 – 1100 BCE), they announced it as a fake.

2.  In the 1970s in the Philippines, a minister claimed to have found a tribe who lived in caves without any modern conveniences, including clothes, vehicles, cooking appliances or phones.  Finally, experts visited the tribe and concluded quickly that the minister had invented a hoax.

3.  Archaeologists say this combination of hoax and fake is one of the best:  An amateur archaeologist planted a skull that was "accidentally found," claiming this ancient entity was the "missing link" between apes and modern humans. The international media and scientific organizations celebrated the find in top publications and journals. Finally, archaeologists declared the specimen a fake. It had duped the world for over 40 years.

If there's time in a class, there are two more hoaxes we'll discuss.
 
After the famous fakes, we'll view a short video on a related subject: counterfeiting. In addition, students will receive a list of tips on how to spot fakes.


HOW I TEACH 

I’m happy to hear questions and comments during the presentation--not only after class. 
Other features of my teaching style and philosophy:

√ Classes with only 4 students.
√ Lots of student interaction.
√ Dramatic Keynote (like PowerPoint) presentation with illustrations and 
 photos to enhance learning.
√ Clips of videos to increase the understanding and enjoyment of the class content.
√ The display of my collection's AUTHENTIC ANTIQUITIES used by ancient Egyptians.

I encourage kids to share their opinions, ideas, mistakes and triumphs.  I love it when kids laugh. After the class, I message parents/caretakers to inform them how their student did, 
and I send extra files for their interest. 

CLASS PRICE includes (in addition to the scheduled class):

1. Welcome message to both the student and enroller.
2. Quiz (actually, a learning tool) as a pre-lesson activity.
3. Personalized post-class message to the student and enroller, 
    detailing how the learner did in class and any recommendations.
4. Availability to answer a student's questions (by message) after class.



Copyright ©, Ilene Springer, 2024
All rights reserved. No part of this lesson may be reproduced without the written permission of the author.