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Thu 11 Nov 2002Unearthing the secret history of fake fossilsA remarkable hoax involving fake fossils was carried out in Wurtzburg, Germany in the early 18th century. The story still has the power to instruct and amuse and is often recounted in natural history circles.Today we understand what fossils are and how they were formed, but this matter was far from settled in those days. Many geologists thought that fossils were bones of creatures buried in ancient floods and turned to stone. Others thought fossils were rocks shaped by inorganic forces into forms that resembled animals. Those shapes that didn't resemble any living animals were dismissed as oddities or whimsical carvings fashioned by God.