Disciplinary proceedings against German Archaeologist

                Metal detecting for Artefacts - but it is proper          
               documentation of CONTEXT that is important     

A senior archaeologist from Koblenz employed by the Directorate General for Cultural Heritage is facing disciplinary proceedings potentially involving falsified or misrepresented discoveries from a number of sites. The Interior Ministry in Mainz made the first allegations known in October after his former university had contacted them with some doubts they had about the contents of the doctoral theis he had written there many years previously. He was accused at the time of somehow deliberately misdating 21 skulls, allegedly publishing them as prehistoric, when they were from the Middle Ages or even from modern times, an accusation he denied.

 
Now 18 more possible suspicious cases have been added said Interior State Secretary Simone Schneider in Mainz on Monday. Allegations against the manreportedly include discrepancies in the documentation and dating of multiple sites he investigated since 1997. The man has been suspended from work and all suspected cases are now being systematically processed, the public and science will be continuously informed about the progress of the investigation and its results in order to avert further scientific damage. According to the ministry, various experts from other federal states are involved in the investigation.

One of the cases involved concerns doubts emerging regarding the authenticity of the discovery of the site of a battle described by Tacitus in 70AD involving Roman forces suppressing a rebellion by the Treveri, a Celtic-Germanic tribe. The site was identified in 2015 on a large meadow near Riol in the Trier-Saarburg district ("Schlachtfeld von Riol"). The discovery was made in collaboration with metal detectorists who apparently found a collection of about 20 metal finds that seemed to have confirmed the findspot as the battlefield kknowen from the written sources. They included buckles from chain mail, iron spear tips and lead slingshot. The pieces were exhibited at the state exhibition on Emperor Nero in 2016 in three museums in Trier. Now doubts are being raised about the authenticity of this discovery, recent reviews have deemed the archaeological database for the site "inadequate," raising questions about the accuracy of its location and the provenance of artefacts found there, particularly the spearheads attributed to the battle. While the historical reality of the Battle of Riol itself is not in question, the authenticity of this specific site as its location is now under scrutiny. If proven false, this could have significant implications for the historical narrative of the region.

Among the other cases is believed to be the case of a supposed Neanderthal skullcap from the Wannenköpfe quarry near Ochtendung, which it seems has also been exposed as a forgery. It was originally dated to be 160,000 to 170,000 years old, but in an external laboratory, the skull fragments were dated to the early Middle Ages (7th/8th century AD) and not to the Paleolithic period, writes the Interior Ministry.

These developments highlight a growing need for rigorous verification in archaeological research to protect the integrity of historical scholarship.

References
Südwestrundfunk, 'Archäologie-Skandal in Koblenz weitet sich offenbar aus Stand' Südwestrundfunk 25.11.2024.

Martina Lippl, 'Zwei spektakuläre Funde wohl gefälscht – Deutscher Archäologe im Fokus' Frankfurter Rundschau 27.11.2024.



Gisela Kirschstein, 'Fälschungen in der Landesarchäologie: Weder Neandertaler in Ochtendung noch Römerschlacht in Riol – 18 neue Verdachtsfälle' Mainzund.de Internetzeitung Mainz 25.11.2024.

dpa, 'Archäologie-Skandal: Forscher soll bei Schädeln und Schlachtfeld getrickst haben', Berliner Zeitung . 27.11.2024.

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