Fraud, Hoaxes, and Outrageous Theories
Since at least the time of the ancient Greeks, human beings have sought to understand the vanished peoples who came before them. Many times this has led to a creative explosion, as in the Renaissance. Other times, this has led to fraud, hoaxes, and outrageous theories as humans worked to fill gaps in their knowledge with imaginary and improbable ideas. This photo essay looks at some of the strange theories, outright frauds, and honest misinterpretations that have been proposed to explain the human past.