Monsters and Mermaids:
Unravelling Natural History’s Greatest Hoaxes
August 26, 2023-February 11, 2024
For centuries, hoaxers have crafted counterfeit artifacts, forged fossils, and conjured up non-existent animal species. Some sought fame and academic recognition, others sought fortune, and a few sought only amusement. This exhibition brought together a blockbuster assemblage of objects to explore the history of hoaxes, the motivations of the hoaxers, and the scientific methods by which great hoaxes were debunked.
Among the highlights were the original carved wooden feet that started the legend of Bigfoot, the “Toad in a Hole” created by Piltdown Man perpetrator Charles Dawson, and one of the famous 18th Century fossil forgeries known as Beringer's Lying Stones. For the centerpiece we displayed America's greatest hoax, the 3,000 Cardiff Giant.
Smaller sections of the exhibition replicated taxonomic hoaxes such as the Charlton Brimstone, a fake butterfly that fooled Linneaus himself and told the story of major American archaeological forgeries such as the Davenport Tablets, the Michigan Relics, the Kensington Runestone, and the Newark "Holy Stones".
Media Coverage:
Deb Lucke created a delightful comic about the exhibition for The New Yorker:
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/nineteenth-century-clickbait
My own article about the idea of Hoaxes and how they require both a perpetrator and a willing audience for Scientific American:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/5-of-the-greatest-natural-history-hoaxes-of-all-time/
