19th Archaeological Conference of Central Germany: Fake Prehistory: Forgery, Fraud, and Historical Falsifications in Archaeology
International conference in Halle (Saale) from 7 to 9 October 2026
The Archaeological Conference of Central Germany is hosted annually by the State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt. Based on finds or findings from Central Germany, the international conference addresses selected archaeological topics in order to contribute new insights into the interdisciplinary discussion.
The 19th Archaeological Conference of Central Germany will be devoted to the topic of ›Fake Prehistory: Forgery, Fraud, and Historical Falsifications in Archaeology.‹ Archaeology aspires to reconstruct history from fragmentary evidence. The fragmentation of historical records, like a puzzle with pieces missing, has always tempted archaeologists to fill the gaps with more or less well-founded speculation. In contrast, there are cases of fraud and of forged finds and features, which repeatedly send shockwaves through the discipline when they are revealed. But forgeries in archaeology are not always motivated by an individual's desire for fame or for the high profit margins of traded antiquities. The wilful distortion and reinterpretation of archaeological results with the aim to create an ideologically desired explanation is characteristic not only of the history of the research of the first half of the 20th century particularly in prehistoric archaeology. But the post-factual age has also reached archaeology as a discipline, and its insights are once again massively monopolized by various protagonists for ideological purposes. At the international conference in Halle (Saale), the intentions and effects of fraud on the discipline's credibility will be discussed, using examples of known forgeries of archaeological objects and results. The means and methods of identifying such forgeries will also be addressed. Another panel will focus on the background and the consequences of the deliberate falsification and reinterpretation of archaeological results. How can and should archaeology deal with attempts of ideological appropriation?
Wednesday, 7 October 2026
From 9.00 registration.
Lecture hall 1 at Steintor-Campus, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Adam-Kuckhoff-Straße 35, 06108 Halle (Saale).
Introduction
10.00 to 10.15
Harald Meller (Halle [Saale]/DE), Oliver Dietrich (Halle [Saale]/DE), Alfred Reichenberger (Halle [Saale]/DE): Welcoming and introduction into the topic.
10.15 to 10.40
Ulf Ickerodt (Schleswig/DE): Als der Archäologe zum Detektiv wurde oder warum Archäologen das Echte vom Falschen unterscheiden können.
Fälschungen archäologischer Funde und Befunde
10.45 to 11.10
Marcel Weiß (Halle [Saale]/DE): The Distortion of Human Origins – Faking ›the Oldes‹ in Palaeolithic Archaeology.
11.15 to 11.45 – coffee break.
11.45 to 12.10
Stefan Flohr (Hildesheim/DE): Die Causa Protsch – Die Geschichte eines multiplen Systemversagens.
12.15 to 12.40
Britta Stein (Halle [Saale]/DE): ›Die Hand Gottes‹ und ihre 168 Sünden – Fujimura Shin'ichi und die Paläolithische Befundfälschung in Japan.
12.40 to 14.00 – lunch break.
14.00 to 14.25
Alexandra Anders (Budapest/HU), Pal Raczky (Budapest/HU): Between Authenticity and Forgery: Balkan Neolithic Figurines (Vinča and Beyond) in Hungarian Collections and the Art Market.
14.30 to 14.55
Regina Uhl (Berlin/DE), Malvinka Urák (Cluj-Napoca/RO): Echt alt oder alt gemacht? Neue Perspektiven auf die Tărtăria-Täfelchen.
15.00 to 15.25
François Bertemes (Halle [Saale]/DE): Die Erfindung der ›Minoer‹. Von der ›Re‹-Konstruktion der ersten europäischen Hochkultur zur systematischen Fälschung ›minoischer‹ Antiquitäten.
15.30 to 15.55
Stephan Faust (Halle [Saale]/DE): Die Tiara des Saitaphernes. Chronik eines Fälschungsskandals.
16.00 to 16.30 – coffee break.
16.30 to 16.55
Thomas Claus (Frankfurt am Main/DE): Der Goldkessel aus dem Chiemsee. Eine Spurensuche.
17.00 to 17.25
Alfred Reichenberger (Halle [Saale]/DE), Harald Meller (Halle [Saale]/DE): Fälschungsvorwürfe – Das Schicksal vieler großer Funde, dargestellt am Beispiel der Himmelsscheibe von Nebra.
17.30 to 17.55
Christian-Heinrich Wunderlich (Halle [Saale]/DE), Ernst Pernicka (Mainz/DE): Dass nicht sein kann, was nicht sein darf: Die Goldfunde von Bernstorf.
18.00 to 18.30 – coffee break.
18.30 to 18.45
Greeting by the rector of Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg.
18.45 to 19.45 – keynote lecture
Ernst Pernicka (Mainz/DE): Naturwissenschaftliche Methoden zum Nachweis von Fälschungen.
From 20.15, there will be an evening reception with buffet at the State Museum of Prehistory (Richard-Wagner-Straße 9, 06114 Halle [Saale]).
From 21.15, there will be the opportunity to visit the permanent exhibition and the temporary exhibition ›The Shamaness‹ at the State Museum – each with guided tours in German and English.
Thursday, 8 October 2026
9.30 to 9.55
Stefan Lehmann (Köln/DE): Der sogenannte ›Alexander Stendal‹. 26 Jahre nach der Ausstellung ›Alexander der Große. König der Welt!‹ – Forschungsstand, Kontext und Authentizitätsdebatte.
10.00 to 10.25
Felix Biermann (Halle [Saale]/DE), Katrin Frey (Prenzlau/DE): Gefälschte Götterbilder des slawischen Frühmittelalters.
10.30 to 10.55
Gerrit Deutschländer (Halle [Saale]/DE): Das ›Constitutum Constantini‹ – Die kühnste aller Fälschungen des Mittelalters.
11.00 to 11.30 – coffee break.
11.30 to 11.55
Rudolf Simek (Bonn/DE): Fake Runes: Fake News, and Fake Old Hats.
Fake Prehistory in der Antike und außereuropäischen Kulturen
12.00 to 12.25
Tomoko Emmerling (Halle [Saale]/DE): Legitimation und Propaganda: Fake History in der Antike.
12.30 to 12.55
Heidi Köpp-Junk (Göttingen/DE): Das alte Ägypten, echt und falsch.
13.00 to 14.30 – lunch break.
14.30 to 14.55
Ergün Laflı (İzmir/TR): Archäologische Fälschungen in der Türkei.
15.00 to 15.25
Ruben Mendoza (Monterey Bay/US): Inventing the Ancient Americas: Crystal Skulls, Master Forgers, and the Manufacture of Mesoamerican Prehistory.
Faking Prehistory. Ideologische Vereinnahmung archäologische Funde und Befunde
15.30 to 15.55
Robert Schumann (Halle [Saale]/DE): The fringes of prehistoric archaeology and the long shadow of the northern light.
16.00 to 16.30 Uhr – coffee break.
16.30 to 16.55
Harald Meller (Halle [Saale]/DE), Oliver Dietrich (Halle [Saale]/DE), Franziska Knoll (Halle [Saale]/DE), Kai Michel (Hamburg/DE): Vom weißen ›Indogermanen‹ zur dunkelhäutigen Frau. Die Schamanin von Bad Dürrenberg.
17.00 to 17.25
Uwe Kraus (Halle [Saale]/DE): Von Häusern, Öfen und Gräbern: Die vermeintlich erfolgreiche Suche nach den Wohnstätten der schnurkeramischen ›Ur-Indoeuropäer‹.
17.30 to 17.55
Luitgard Löw (Bamberg/DE): Die gefälschte Adlerfibel. Fälschung und politische Wissensproduktion in der Archäologie des Nationalsozialismus.
18.00 to 18.25
Donat Wehner (Halle [Saale]/DE), Andreas Stahl (Halle [Saale]/DE), Jörg Orschiedt (Halle [Saale]/DE): König Heinrich I. (verstorben am 2. Juli 936) und der Schädelkult der SS.
From 19.00 there will be the opportunity to have dinner together (self-paying).
Friday, 9 October 2026
9.30 to 9.55
Oliver Dietrich (Halle [Saale]/DE): Friedrich Ratzels ›Anthropogeographie‹, die Kulturkreislehre und Gustaf Kossinnas ›Siedlungsarchäologische Methode‹. Überlegungen zur Genese eines Paradigmas.
10.00 to 10.25
Jan Kellershohn (Halle [Saale]/DE): ›Volkheit‹. Hans Hahne und die Entstehung des Volkes als wissenschaftliche Tatsache.
10.30 to 10.55 – CANCELLED
Ralf Hoppadietz (Leipzig/DE): Geschichtsdarstellungen und -bilder über ›die Germanen‹ und das Verhältnis zu ›Freilichtmuseen‹ in freier Trägerschaft (Arbeitstitel).
11.00 to 11.25
Holger Grönwald (Halle [Saale]/DE): Militaristischer Nationalismus in völkisch-heidnischer Tradition? Gefälschte Geschichte und Archäologie beim Missbrauch der Kyffhäuser-Burgen.
11.30 to 12.30 – lunch break.
Pseudoarchäologie
12.30 to 12.55
Stefan Baumann (Leuven/BE): Between Ignorance and Intent: The Methods and Appeal of Pseudoarchaeology.
13.00 to 13.25
Leif Inselmann (Berlin/DE): Von Ariern zu Aliens ‒ Ideengeschichte(n) der Pseudoarchäologie.
13.30 to 13.55
Jens Notroff (Berlin/DE): Arier, Aliens und Atlantis – Ideologische Aneignung und pseudowissenschaftliche Konstruktion von Geschichte.
›Fälschung‹ digitaler Forschungsdaten
14.00 to 14.25
Christin Keller (Berlin/DE): Zwischen Datenkritik und archäologischer Glaubwürdigkeit: Digitale Forschungsdaten und die Frage ›Was ist echt?‹.
15.00
Final discussion.
From 15.30 there will be an opportunity to take part in a guided tour of the Archaeological Museum of the Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg with Stephan Faust. Meeting point is the Löwengebäude (›Lion Building‹) at the Universitätsplatz, Halle (Saale).
Prof. Dr. Harald Meller (Halle [Saale]/DE)
Dr. Oliver Dietrich (Halle [Saale]/DE)
Alfred Reichenberger (Halle [Saale]/DE)
Please register by 15 September 2026 via email to cgaertner@lda.stk.sachsen-anhalt.de. The speakers have already been registered automatically.
The conference fees are 45.00 € per person, reduced 20.00 €. Speakers, employees of the State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt, students of the Universities of Halle-Wittenberg, Leipzig, Jena as well as the voluntarily appointed officers of the archaeological service of the State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt have free access to the conference. However, registration is also requested in these cases.
Claudia Gärtner M. A.
State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt
State Museum of Prehistory
Richard-Wagner-Strasse 9
06114 Halle (Saale)
Germany
+49 345 5247-372
cgaertner@lda.stk.sachsen-anhalt.de
During the event, photo and video recordings will be made for purposes of documentation and public relations.
Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg
Steintor Campus, Lecture Hall I
Adam-Kuckhoff-Strasse 35
06108 Halle (Saale)
Germany