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Considering the difficulty we still have properly dating lithics, I feel that the issue of buying fraudulent pieces is one that is not likely to go away, and really doesn't stem from people knapping in modern times. I personally don't put forward much money at all towards pieces on the internet. It's a gamble every time, unless you personally saw it come out of the ground, you can never be 100% sure.
I used to collect Egyptian artifacts, and I ended up buying a few pieces that were not as they seemed. One particular piece was a ushabti figure (that is to say, funeral figure used in the afterlife as a servant to the spirit), that is often sold as a piece dating to around 600BC, but in actuality is a 19th century tourist piece. The Egyptian artifact trade is absolutely flooded with these pieces, along with fraudulent Wadjet Eyes, Ankhs, scarabs, etc. To have the truth, I sought out the biggest museum with an Egyptian collection and Egyptologist on hand that I could find. Had my entire collection properly appraised and i have the notes from that in my files.
I learned some valuable lessons from those days, BUYER BEWARE.
I used to collect Egyptian artifacts, and I ended up buying a few pieces that were not as they seemed. One particular piece was a ushabti figure (that is to say, funeral figure used in the afterlife as a servant to the spirit), that is often sold as a piece dating to around 600BC, but in actuality is a 19th century tourist piece. The Egyptian artifact trade is absolutely flooded with these pieces, along with fraudulent Wadjet Eyes, Ankhs, scarabs, etc. To have the truth, I sought out the biggest museum with an Egyptian collection and Egyptologist on hand that I could find. Had my entire collection properly appraised and i have the notes from that in my files.
I learned some valuable lessons from those days, BUYER BEWARE.
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