Fakes and forgeries are objects of fascination. This volume contains a series of thirteen
articles devoted to fakes and forgeries of written artefacts from the beginnings of writing in
Mesopotamia to modern China. The studies emphasise the subtle distinctions conveyed by an
established vocabulary relating to the reproduction of ancient artefacts and production of
artefacts claiming to be ancient: from copies replicas and imitations to fakes and forgeries.
Fakes are often a response to a demand from the public or scholarly milieu or even both. The
motives behind their production may be economic political religious or personal - aspiring to
fame or simply playing a joke. Fakes may be revealed by combining the study of their contents
codicological epigraphic and palaeographic analyses and scientific investigations. However
certain famous unsolved cases still continue to defy technology today no matter how advanced
it is. Nowadays one can find fakes in museums and private collections alike they abound on
the antique market mixed with real artefacts that have often been looted. The scientific
community's attitude to such objects calls for ethical reflection.
