Fossil fakery article in New Scientist

[Afmayor@aol.com]

I enjoyed reading Hecht's particle on recent Chinese fossil fakery in New 
Scientist.

As a historical note, the earliest incidents of fossil forgeries for profit 
occurred about 900 years ago in China. In the twelfth century AD, exquistely 
preserved fossil fishes were recognized as petrified lifeforms and there was 
a great demand for the specimens. To cash in, local villagers began to create 
fake fossil fish by painting the outlines of the fish on stones. 

But replicas of fossils have been found in much earlier contexts, for example 
the carved and molded fake fossil gastropods in Neolithic sites on the island 
of Malta and the marble models of shark vertebrae from the same time period 
on Crete. Their purpose--profit, ritual, deception, or other--is unknown. 
 _________

 <A HREF="http://pup.princeton.edu/titles/6811.html";>Mayor, A.: The First 
Fossil Hunters: Paleontology in Greek and Roman Times.</A>