Alex Joffe on the fake metal codices

FAKE METAL CODICES WATCH: Alex Joffe has an article on the fake metal codices in Jewish Ideas Daily: On Faith and Forgeries. Excerpt:

In short, like so many objects before them, the lead codices seem to be fakes of a kind that goes back to the earliest days of organized Christianity. At least ten different churches and monasteries from Egypt to England have claimed to have the head of John the Baptist, and at least four others claim to possess his hands. Forgeries based on a smattering of scholarship and a great deal of artistic license have also dogged the field of biblical archeology for over a century. The real question is why they still attract the avid attention of the press, laypeople, and even some scholars.

Background here.