Table of Contents Faking Ancient Mesoamerica Nancy L. Kelker (Author); Karen O. Bruhns (Author) 256 pp. / 6.00 x 9.00 / Nov, 2009 Hardback (978-1-59874-150-6) Paperback (978-1-59874-149-0) Hardback ($89.00) Paperback ($29.95)    Related Interest   - Archaeology   - Cultural Studies & the Arts   - Latin American Studies   - Museum Studies & Practice Crystal skulls, imaginative codices, dubious Olmec heads and cute Colima dogs. Fakes and forgeries run rampant in the Mesoamerican art collections of international museums and private individuals. " Enlightening but frightening, entertaining yet scholarly, this book will give collectors and curators of unprovenienced Mesoamerican art pause for thought. Kelker and Bruhns have done Pre-Columbian art history and archaeology a salutary service in identifying dupes and duplicities that have perverted our understanding of the true achievements of prehispanic artists. " - Norman Hammond, Boston University Authors Nancy Kelker and Karen Bruhns examine the phenomenon in this eye-opening volume. They discuss the most commonly forged classes and styles of artifacts, many of which were being duplicated centuries ago. More important, they describe the system whereby these objects get made, purchased, authenticated, and placed in major museums as well as the complicity of forgers, dealers, curators, and collectors in this system. Unique to this volume are biographies of several of the forgers, who describe their craft and how they are able to effectively fool connoisseurs and specialists. An important, accessible introduction to pre-Columbian art fraud for archaeologists, art historians, and museum professionals alike. A parallel volume by the same authors discusses fakes in Andean archaeology.