What is a
fake?
A fake is an object, person or
act that is not genuine. Famous
fakes you may have heard of are the Cottingley fairy photographs and the
Piltdown man. Fakes are prevalent
in all areas of life from art to literature, from money to clothing. Many of you will probably have bought a counterfeit piece of
designer clothing and everyday we use money embellished with many marks and
devices to ensure its authenticity.
Fakes illustrate
the fallibility of experts, challenge our concepts of reality and affect our
understanding of the past. As
humans we are always searching for the truth, as Agent Mulder would say, “The
truth is out there” and we attach a great importance to finding it.
The subject of fakes is a very thorny area, with many complex issues.
Consider these
points:
A scientist
cannot provide the absolute answers to these questions he can only give answers
to more specific questions for example; what is the age of the artifact, and
what is it made from? To answer
these questions the scientist of today has many analytical techniques at his
disposal and this website will attempt to describe these, their uses and
illustrate some cases where they have been of use.
At the same time we must remember that mistakes can be made and it is
often the eye of a human that spots the fake first.
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follow the links on the left and explore my website!