HomeArchaeology Gone Astray: Forgeries, Misinterpretation, and Other Field Stories

Archaeology Gone Astray: Forgeries, Misinterpretation, and Other Field Stories

UISPP Commission on the History of Archaeology conference

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Published on Monday, September 01, 2025

Abstract

This conference, titled “Archaeology Gone Astray: Forgeries, Misinterpretations, and Other Field Stories”, is dedicated to the less glorious —but undeniably fascinating— chapters in the history of archaeology. We’ll delve into everything from notorious forgeries and spectacular blunders to interpretive dead ends and moments of… let’s say, excessive enthusiasm in the field.The event offers a space for reflection, self-reflection, and a bit of humor —because, like any living science, archaeology sometimes takes a wrong turn. Yet, even when it goes astray, it always leads to something interesting.While the main theme centers on the field’s twists, turns, and detours, the program will also feature an open session for participants who wish to present their current research projects.

Announcement

Presentation

This conference, titled “Archaeology Gone Astray: Forgeries, Misinterpretations, and Other Field Stories”, is dedicated to the less glorious —but undeniably fascinating— chapters in the history of archaeology. We’ll delve into everything from notorious forgeries and spectacular blunders to interpretive dead ends and moments of… let’s say, excessive enthusiasm in the field.

The event offers a space for reflection, self-reflection, and a bit of humor —because, like any living science, archaeology sometimes takes a wrong turn. Yet, even when it goes astray, it always leads to something interesting.

While the main theme centers on the field’s twists, turns, and detours, the program will also feature an open session for participants who wish to present their current research projects.

Program

10.15 Conference opening

Forgeries, Misinterpretations, and Other Field Stories

  • 10.30–10.50  Tim Murray (University of Melbourne). Archaeologies as wished for. The power of ‘alternative’ histories
  • 10.50–11.10 Eliska Petrekova (Masaryk University Brno, Department of Archaeology and Museology). When the Artist Restores the Artifact: The Case of the Painted Vases from Ceglie in Baron Koller’s Collection
  • 11.10–11.30 Jakub Linetty (Museum of the First Piasts at Lednica). Mysterious Slavic Universe of Tadeusz Wolański
  • 11.30–11.50 Adrianna Szczerba (University of Lódź). Slavic Runes in Dispute: From 19th-Century Polemics to Contemporary Revivals
  • 11.50–12.10 Marzena Woźny (Archaeological Museum in Kraków). Gotfryd Ossowski (1835–1897) and the archaeological forgery from the Mnikowska Valley
  • 12.10–12.30 Anna Juga-Szymańska (University of Warsaw. Faculty of Archaeology). Don’t believe your eyes. The alleged files of Włodzimierz Antoniewicz
  • 12.30–12.50 Sébastien Plutniak (CNRS, France). On the Scientific Fringes of Archaeology: the Contents and Reception of Open and Unsupervised Scholarly Communication Platforms
  • 12.50–13.10 Bartłomiej Wyrwas (University of Lódź). Misreadings in Polish Archaeology: A Selection of Examples

13:10 - 14:20 BREAK TIME – Lunch

Current research projects

  • 14.20–14.40 Margarita Díaz-Andreu (ICREA and University of Barcelona). Lost melodies: a history of the archaeological study of music and sound
  • 14.40–15.00 Santiago Olcina Lagos. (University Institute for Research in Archaeology and Historical Heritage, University of Alicante). The dissemination of pre-Hispanic archaeology at the 1929 Ibero-American Exposition in Seville: a first approach
  • 15.00–15.20 Ludwika Jończyk (Faculty of Archaeology, University of Warsaw, Justyna Liguz, Kwidzyn Castle). Investigating the investigator: Herbert Heym and the afterlife of unpublished East Prussian research
  • 15.20–15.40 Harald Gropp (ZAW Heidelberg). Nebra and Coligny and the discussion of archaeoastronomical artefacts

Poster session

  • 15.40–15.45 Petr Kostrhun (Moravian Museum). Moravian Glozel
  • 15.45–15.50 Harald Gropp (Heidelberg University). Basic material on the sky disc of Nebra and the calendar of Coligny
  • 15.50–15.55 Harald Gropp (Heidelberg University). Local archaeological activities vs. official excavations
  • 15.55–16.00 Magdalena Malak (Nicolaus Copernicus University, Toruń). Roman Jakimowicz (1889-1951) – first Director of the State Archaeological Museum in Warsaw and the first head of the Department of Prehistory at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. But what else?

16.00–16.45 Discussion and Conference summary

17.00–18.00 Commission of the History of Archaeology UISPP regular meeting

For UISPP members.

Saturday, September 13

10.00–15.00 Visit of Lodz

Places

  • Institute of Archaeology, University of Lodz - Narutowicza 65
    Lodz, Poland

Event attendance modalities

Hybrid event (on site and online)


Date(s)

  • Friday, September 12, 2025
  • Saturday, September 13, 2025

Keywords

  • history of archaeology, history of science, history of prehistory, prehistory, prehistoric archaeology, forgery

Contact(s)

  • Marzena Woźny
    courriel : marzenawoz [at] wp [dot] pl
  • Adrianna Szczerba
    courriel : adrianna [dot] szczerba [at] uni [dot] lodz [dot] pl
  • Jakub Linetty
    courriel : kubalinetty [at] gmail [dot] com

Information source

  • Sébastien Plutniak
    courriel : sebastien [dot] plutniak [at] cnrs [dot] fr

License

CC0-1.0 This announcement is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal.

To cite this announcement

« Archaeology Gone Astray: Forgeries, Misinterpretation, and Other Field Stories », Conference, symposium, Calenda, Published on Monday, September 01, 2025, https://doi.org/10.58079/14jzx

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