Walsh, Jane MacLaren and Topping, Brett. 2019. The Man Who Invented Aztec Crystal Skulls: The Adventures of Eugène Boban. New York & Oxford: Berghahn Books.
Eugène Boban began life in 1834 in humble circumstances in Paris, traveled to the California Gold Rush in 1853, and later became a recognized authority on pre-Columbian cultures. He also invented an entire category of archaeological artifact: the Aztec crystal skull. Detailed are the travels, self-education, and archaeological explorations of Eugène Boban; this book also explores the circumstances that allowed him to sell fakes to museums that would remain undetected for over a century.