MONMOUTH, Ill. — Monmouth College, in conjunction with the Western Illinois Society of the Archaeological Institute of America, will host archaeology lectures on the first two Wednesdays in April.

Both lectures, which are free and open to the public, will be held in the Whiteman-McMillan Highlander Room in Stockdale Center.

On April 2 at 7:30 p.m., Richard De Puma of the University of Iowa will speak on “Etruscan Forgeries.”

“Forgeries of Etruscan art have been made from at least as early as the 15th century,” said De Puma, who holds Iowa’s Charles Eliot Norton Memorial Lectureship. “The period between about 1850 and 1950 saw a remarkable number of Etruscan forgeries being produced … and accepted as authentic.”

De Puma’s lecture explores the possible reasons why forgers have been especially attracted to Etruscan art by examining a few of the best-known examples. The main focus of the lecture, however, is on a pair of unpublished terra-cottas collected by a major American museum in 1912 and long believed to be Etruscan works from the Hellenistic period. The audience will be asked to “vote” informally on whether one, both or neither of the sculptures is/are authentic. Finally, the results of recent thermoluminescence tests will provide the answer.

On April 9 at 7:30 p.m., MC alumnus Roger Osborne ’82, an independent scholar who lives in Ventura, Calif., will speak on “Angkor Wat: Past, Present and Future.”

Osborne’s lecture will provide an overview of the history and culture of the ancient Khmer. He will discuss the layout and architecture of the temples themselves, with maps and diagrams showing temple-cities by location and historical epoch. Some reference will also be made to features of daily life at Angkor during the approximately 500 years it held political sway over most of southeast Asia.