Trial of the archaeologists accused of faking the origin of christianity

The trial for the fake graffiti in basque Iruña-Veleia will begin in February 2020 they catalogued of "an extraordinary discovery" , and was intended to re

Trial of the archaeologists accused of faking the origin of christianity
The trial for the fake graffiti in basque Iruña-Veleia will begin in February 2020

they catalogued of "an extraordinary discovery" , and was intended to revolutionize what was known about not only the basque language , but also christianity . The treasure, waiting to be recovered in the archaeological site of Iruña-Veleia, it was succulent: hundreds of pieces dating from the centuries III, IV and IV with inscriptions in the basque language , hieroglyphics, and the most ancient representations of Jesus of Nazareth on the cross. Today, the main promoters of the company, with Eliseo Gil Zubillaga to the head, await the start of the trial in which it will be assessed as to whether they were authors of one of the biggest frauds in the history of archaeology in spain. A process that will start this coming February 3 at the Penal court number 1 of Vitoria.

Have gone 11 years since it was announced the success of the excavation conducted at the site alavés of Iruña-Veleia, popular for the remains that houses of the roman period. The findings were produced under the management of the company Lurmen SL, of which he was administrator Gil. Specifically, the archaeologists discovered supposedly a few graffiti writings in ceramics prior to the year 500 d.C. Were presented as parts of "world importance", because they not only passed until the third century the appearance of the basque -600 years before the first words of which have proof–, but showed that the oldest image known of the death of Jesus. He had, moreover, hundreds of pieces with representations of mythological characters and hieroglyphics, as well as inscriptions in Greek or Latin.

The archaeologist Eliseo Gil, in 2006 with the then minister of Culture of the basque Government Miren Azkárate

The epic of Gil and his team cracked open just two years later, when the Provincial council of Alava, which is also the owner of the site, commissioned an investigation to a commission of scientists and specialists to verify the authenticity of parts and finish with the emerging suspected fraud .

For the experts out there were tests quite clear forgery , such as the fact that to appear references to "Octavius Augustus" when the time is cited only to "Augustus". In addition, included punctuation such as commas, quotation marks, or signs of equivalence that is not emerged until the Middle Ages . Finally, the team of experts ruled that the writings and representations were false, the position at which they agreed to in a subsequent study, experts of the Higher School of Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Property and of the Institute of Cultural Heritage of Spain.

Damages

by then, Lurmen had received a succulent investment of 3.7 million euros from the basque Government, although this fact was left out of the cause. On the contrary, the office of the Prosecutor recrimina to Gil and to his principal collaborators the "damages" that allegedly caused in 476 pieces found in the archaeological site of Iruña-Veleia with the object of endowing a "purported historical-cultural-religious that they had". In this sense, the Public Ministry claims that striped the surface of the materials to make "registrations exceptional deterioration of the irreversible parts late-roman authentic".

The main defendant in the trial that will start next February is the own Eliseo Gil , which at all times has defended his innocence. For him, the office of the Prosecutor of the province of Álava ask for five and a half years in prison for a crime continued on the historic heritage and the other of a scam. The Provincial council, who also serves as indictment, raises the penalty to seven and a half years. On the bench sit two of his closest collaborators: Óscar Escribano, Rubén Cerdán, for those who claim, respectively, five and a half years and two and a half years in prison.

Date Of Update: 13 September 2019, 21:00