Maya Codices - Forgeries

Forgeries

Since the start of the 20th century, forgeries of varying quality have been produced. Two elaborate early 20th-century forged codices were in the collection of William Randolph Hearst. Although fake codices have seldom fooled serious scholars, the so-called 'Grolier Codex' may be a major exception. Its paper seems to be ancient, and the influential Mayanist Michael D. Coe believed the artifact to be genuine; but other eminent Mayanists such as J.E.S. Thompson, Claude Baudez, and Susan Milbrath concluded that its pictures and glyphs are falsifications. They pointed out a long series of inconsistencies and errors in the alleged codex, and drew attention to its arthistorical improbability and uselessness for astrological and divinatory purposes. Although their arguments were never effectively countered, no scholarly unanimity has been reached up to now (2012).