The Anthropology of Forgery: New Themes for the Contemporary Archaeologist

The task of archaeologists is to study the material culture of the past to pass it on to current and future generations. Each object preserves a memory, deriving from its production, its use, its breaking and deposition. This memory can also be reactivated in the modern and contemporary world through trade, collecting and exhibition of various artefacts. In order to preserve and safeguard this memory, synonymous with past civilizations and as an example for present and future ones, contemporary archaeologists are called upon to study the most current trends in society in order to prevent illegal activities (such as clandestine excavations, forgeries, trafficking, theft, etc.) and to preserve the original idea of history and culture. Through a multidisciplinary approach (historical, archaeological, anthropological, legal), this contribution presents some activities undertaken by the Paduan archaeological school, focusing on the analysis of the phenomenon of falsification, its positive and negative implications, leading to a proposal for the definition of a new branch of archaeology at the service of contemporary society.