. Archæology and false antiquities. tchedthe principal objects, and proposed to publish a greatwork on the subject. The flint objects exhibited at themeeting were of the most fantastic shapes—daggers,handled axes (Fig. 6), suns, moons, stars, forms of CONTINENTAL FORGERIES 41 animals, and other decorative designs ; in short, every-thing that the most ardent antiquary could desire. More-over, their authenticity was attested by some respectablemagnates of the town—magistrats, fonctionaires, richesindustriels, artistes, etc. But notwithstanding all thisdisplay of disinterested evidence, the fraud
. Archæology and false antiquities. tchedthe principal objects, and proposed to publish a greatwork on the subject. The flint objects exhibited at themeeting were of the most fantastic shapes—daggers,handled axes (Fig. 6), suns, moons, stars, forms of CONTINENTAL FORGERIES 41 animals, and other decorative designs ; in short, every-thing that the most ardent antiquary could desire. More-over, their authenticity was attested by some respectablemagnates of the town—magistrats, fonctionaires, richesindustriels, artistes, etc. But notwithstanding all thisdisplay of disinterested evidence, the fraud was clearlyestablished, not only by evidence of the non-existence ofthe cemetery, but by the detection of the forgers in theact of fabricating their pretended relics. The following incident, communicated to M. de Mor-tillet by M. Lartet himself, shows how readily evenexperts may be taken in when the falsification is the pro-duction of one who knows what kind of object is mostlikely to have the desired effect. The Museum of Figs. 7 and 8. Elephants Incised on Bone (Modern) Germain contains a bone plaque, showing on both sides(Figs. 7 and 8) the outline of an elejjhant, which has thefollowing history. When MM. Edouard Lartet andHenry Christy were engaged in their earlier explorationsin the caves of the Dordogne, they lodged in the hotel ofa M. Laganne, an intelligent and well-to-do man. Duringthe long autumn evenings the arch^ological discoveriesin the district were frequently the subject of discussion,and on one occasion—some sceptical person having sug-gested that the explorers were the victims of a mystifica- 42 ARCHEOLOGY AND FALSE ANTIQUITIES tion—MM. Lartet and Christy maintained that no onecould cheat them, and offered to stand champagne if any-one succeeded in doing so. I take up your bet, said theirhost Laganne, A few days later Laganne appeared athis hotel covered with mud, like one who had passeda day in exploring a cave, and carrying a bag of bonesand f
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