A Spanish archeologist has land himself with a prison judgment of conviction after being found shamed of faking many of his most notorious discoveries , including clayware stuck together with innovative gum and ancient inscriptions that comprise referencesto17th - century philosophers .
Eliseo Gil was sentenced this calendar week to 2.5 days in prison on guardianship of fraud and documentary forgery at a court in the Basque capital of Vitoria - Gasteiz , according to Spanish newspaperEl País . His collaborationist Rubén Cerdán was also pass on a 15 - month sentence for his role in the crime . Both were set up to ante up a mulct of € 12,500 to the Provincial Council of Vitoria , which helped fund the digging .
acknowledge as the Iruña - Veleia case , the controversy dates back to 2006 when Gil was the lead archeologist behind excavations at the Roman site of Iruña - Veleia near the city of Vitoria - Gasteiz in Basque Country , an autonomous community in northerly Spain .
Among his 400 - queer discovery , Gil claim to have found third - one C pottery that bore the earliest have intercourse portrayal of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ . He take to detect ancient clayware sport graffiti write in the Basque speech hundred before some of the other other examples of the language . There were also animal bones engraved with the name of Egyptian queen Nefertiti and pottery inscription written in hieroglyph and Latin .
Altogether , the archeological site harbour the potential to push the Basque Country to the forefront of ancient account , suggesting it was a vibrant ethnic crossroads with deep links to Roman Christianity and Ancient Egypt . The discoveries initially made Gil somewhat of a local celebrity , not least because it recreate the heritage of Basque Country , a part with a strong sense of ethnical individuality .
But cracks in the story quickly start to emerge . presently after Gil gave his first wardrobe group discussion on the artifacts , Joaquín Gorrochategui , a professor of Indo - European philology at UPV and an expert in ancient Basque , bulge out to ask questions about the discoveries and raised concerns to the drumhead of the Álava Archaeological Museum , theArchaeological Institute of Americareported in 2008 .
After much debate , the discoveries were eventually proven to be forgeries by a committee of experts in 2008 . The independent experts said some of the artifact incorporate falsehoods that were so obvious it was ridiculous . The Guardianreported at the time that some of the pile were pieced together with forward-looking glue . Some of the text contained spelling mistakes , the name of non - existent gods , and one ancient inscription even made a mention to René Descartes , the seventeenth - century French philosopher . The scrabble of Christ ’s excruciation also sport the acronym " RIP , " which would have been wholly unheard of at the time .
