Archaeological forgery is the manufacture of supposedly ancient items that are sold to the antiquities market and may even end up in the collections of museums. It is related to art forgery.
A string of archeological forgeries have usually followed news of prominent archaeological excavations. Historically, famous excavations like those in Crete, Valley of the Kings in Egypt and Pompeii have caused the appearance of a number of forgeries supposedly spirited away from the dig. Those have been usually presented in the open market but some have also ended up in museum collections and as objects of serious historical study.
In recent times, forgeries of pre-Columbian pottery from the South America have been very common. Other popular examples include Ancient Egyptian earthenware and supposed ancient Greek gold. There have also been paleontological forgeries like archaeoraptor.
Read more about Archaeological Forgery: Motivations, Detection, Criticisms of Antiquities Trade, Known Archaeological Forgers, Known Archaeological Forgeries and Hoaxes, Cases Generally Believed By Professional Archaeologists To Be Forgeries or Hoaxes