Researchers Spot Fake Ancient Pottery Using the Earth's Magnetic Field
Recorded: Sept. 9, 2026, 5 a.m.
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Researchers Have Figured Out How to Spot Fake Ancient Pottery Using the Earth's Magnetic Field Skip to main content Search i Sections Smart News History Science Innovation Arts & Culture Travel At the Smithsonian More from Smithsonian magazine Newsletters Photo Contest Podcast Videos Our Partners Smithsonian Store Smithsonian Journeys Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote. New Research Researchers Have Figured Out How to Spot Fake Ancient Pottery Using the Earth’s Magnetic Field Sonja Anderson September 4, 2026 ShareCopy linkEmailSMSFacebookXRedditLinkedInBlueskyPrintAdd as preferred source Forgers, beware. Researchers just discovered how to determine whether any piece of pottery is ancient or not—by reading its magnetic signatures. When clay particles are fired in a kiln, their magnetic field orients toward Earth’s magnetic North Pole. That’s because clay objects contain ferromagnetic minerals, Vaknin, who specializes in archaeomagnetic dating, told Artnet’s Vittoria Benzine in 2022. “On the atomic level, one can imagine the magnetic signal of these minerals as a tiny needle of a compass,” he said. The researchers hope the threshold they’ve discovered will aid future investigations into artifact forgery. Fakes proliferate in Israel, China, Mexico and every other archaeologically rich country, “particularly in places where treachery abounds,” co-author Lisa Tauxe says in the statement. In the study, the researchers mention the case of the “James Ossuary,” a possibly fake burial box that supposedly belonged to Jesus Christ’s brother. After a seven-year criminal trial, “the court ruled that the forgery had not been proven beyond reasonable doubt,” the co-authors write. You Might Also Like Siberian Hunters Cooked in 'Hot Pots' at the End of the Last Ice Age 5,000-Year-Old Fingerprint Found on Pottery Shard Unearthed in Scotland See Artifacts That Archaeologists Discovered in This 1,600-Year-Old Byzantine Christian Town Buried in an Oasis in Egypt Beer Flowed Freely at Gatherings in the Jordan Valley 7,000 Years Ago How an 'X-Ray Gun' Is Telling Us More About the Java Sea Shipwreck Sonja Anderson is a daily correspondent for Smithsonian magazine who covers art, archaeology and culture, from newly discovered artifacts to the latest art heists. Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday. Email Powered by Salesforce Marketing Cloud (Privacy Notice / Terms & Conditions) More about: Follow Us Explore Smart News History Science Innovation Arts & Culture Travel At the Smithsonian Photo Contest Podcast Video Subscription Subscribe Newsletters Sign Up About About Us Advertising Contact Us Content Licensing FAQ Feedback Internships & Employment Member Services Smithsonian Institution Staff Our Partners Smithsonian.com Smithsonian Store Smithsonian Journeys Smithsonian Channel Smithsonian Books Smithsonian Membership © 2026 Smithsonian Magazine |
Researchers at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, have developed a method utilizing the Earth's magnetic field to determine the authenticity of ancient pottery by analyzing its magnetic signatures. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, provides a technique that could be employed to identify falsified archaeological artifacts globally, benefiting museum curators, historians, archaeologists, and law enforcement agencies combating the illicit antiquities trade. The underlying principle relies on the fact that when clay particles are fired in a kiln, their magnetic fields align with the Earth's magnetic North Pole because the clay contains ferromagnetic minerals, which Vaknin explains function like a tiny compass needle at the atomic level. This initial magnetic orientation, frozen into the clay as it cools, is known as thermal remanent magnetization (TRM). Since the location of the magnetic pole has shifted over millennia, the TRM in ancient pottery differs from that of modern artifacts. Furthermore, after cooling, the material acquires a secondary, weaker magnetic signal called viscous remanent magnetization (VRM), which serves as a record of the varying intensity and direction of the ambient geomagnetic field across different time periods. Although scientists have previously studied VRM for dating geological events, this signal is typically considered noise due to its weakness. For their investigation, Vaknin and his co-authors tested forty-five pottery samples, including excavated shards, storage jars, modern vessels, seal impressions, and souvenir pottery. They utilized thermal demagnetization, heating the samples in incremental steps of eighteen degrees Fahrenheit to measure at which point the VRM signals are erased, leaving only the TRMs for analysis. The researchers determined that any sample older than a millennium required heating to at least two hundred thirty-four degrees Fahrenheit before its VRM was completely erased. In contrast, the VRMs of newer pottery could be removed at lower temperatures. The methodology aims to establish a threshold that can differentiate between ancient and modern artifacts based on the magnetic records imprinted in the clay. The researchers demonstrated this method by applying it to three artifacts suspected of questionable authenticity confiscated by the Israel Antiquities Authority, finding that all three were indeed fired in antiquity. This technique has potential use in locating illegally traded or looted artifacts. Vaknin noted that while the scientific community pursues authentication, there is an inherent challenge where scientists attempting to publish findings must contend with forgers who may seek to manipulate methodologies. This necessitates a robust method that can reliably distinguish genuine age markers from artificial ones. The successful application of this magnetic signature analysis could offer advanced tools in the ongoing battle against artifact forgery and illicit trafficking in regions rich in archaeological sites. |