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Michigan relics
The Michigan relics were a series of supposedly ancient artifacts that appeared to prove that people of an ancient Near Eastern culture had lived in the American state of Michigan. However, they were actually archaeological forgeries. Also known as the Scotford-Soper-Savage collection, the Relics amounted nearly to 3,000 pieces.
=="Discovery" of the relics==
In 1890, James Scotford of Edmore, Michigan, claimed that he had found a number of artifacts, including a clay cup with strange symbols and carved tablets, with symbols that looked vaguely hieroglyphic. He put them forward as evidence that people from the Near East or Europe had lived in America. The find attracted interest and also eager looters who arrived to look for more artifacts. It was reported in the Detroit News that Scotford was involved in the forgeries sold at the railroad tracks, ranging from the first to third series of forgeries. Scotford was a sign-painter by trade who used to live in Montcalm County. (Young, 1) He and his company "would dig until they located an artifact, and then the dignitaries who sponsored the work were invited to remove that artifact. (Stamps, 213) Originally, Scotford found his way to Detroit with intentions of selling copper. Detroit was the place to be, with its booming economy, not to mention its availability for accessing the types of materials necessary to make more forgeries. Ironically, it was Scotford's name that appeared on the certificate of discovery for the second batch of frauds in the museum at the University of Michigan. The Relics, however, may have been marked as "discovered by ''William H.''Scotford," an alias.
Scotford joined forces with Daniel E. Soper, former Michigan Secretary of State, and together they presented thousands of objects made of various materials, supposedly found in 16 counties all over Michigan. Super resigned as Secretary of State for the State of Michigan for "corrupt behavior." They included coins, pipes, boxes, figurines and cuneiform tablets that depicted various biblical scenes, including Moses handing out the tablets of the Ten Commandments. On November 14, 1907, the ''Detroit News'' reported that Soper and Scotford were selling copper crowns they had supposedly found on heads of prehistoric kings, and copies of Noah's diary. Scotford often arranged a local person to witness him "unearthing" the objects.
Although many authorities and collectors declared the objects fraudulent, Scotford and Soper had a large number of believing customers. In 1911, one John A. Russell published a pamphlet, "Prehistoric discoveries in Wayne County, Michigan," in which he argued for their authenticity. James Savage, former pastor of the Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Detroit, bought 40 of the objects. Savage believed them to be "remains relevant to the descendants of the Lost Tribes of Israel," and continued to believe in the relics until his death.
抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』
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