UNHOLY BUSINESS, by Nina Burleigh, is reviewed by Stuart Laidlaw in the Toronto Star. Excerpt:

Often, genuinely old objects are given new inscriptions, with the fake patina put into the inscriptions to make it seem that the wording also dates to ancient times. Sophisticated forgers, Burleigh says, might even incorporate old scratches into the new inscriptions, since the scratches would already contain old patina.

The next stage is to get experts to authenticate it, a process Burleigh says requires as much skill and art as the patina. Here, the trick is to find experts on whose emotions the forger can play, perhaps a Biblical scholar keen to prove its stories true, or a patriotic Israeli excited to find proof of a fabled Jewish temple.

"They get so excited, they can't resist," Burleigh says.

Later, when doubts are raised, the fight becomes one of conflicting science, with experts on both sides lined up to argue for or against an object's authenticity.

Add in the egos of those involved and the often subjective nature of the science itself, Burleigh says, and a conclusive decision as to whether something's a fraud seems almost impossible.

And that, she says, is where the Golan trial over the alleged forgery of the tablet and ossuary sits today. Burleigh leaves little doubt she believes he is guilty, but says Golan might still elude conviction amid confusion over the conflicting scientific testimony at his trial.

"They are putting the science (of archeology) on trial, and the subjective underbelly of the science is being exposed here, big time."

Background here.