About 40 years ago I read a book about one of the world’s leading archaeologists who was being labeled a fraud or the victim of a hoax. He alleged that while traveling on a train in Turkey he met a beautiful woman who later introduced him to a friend who had a vast collection of artifacts from a previously unknown ancient civilization, one that seemed contemporary with the Egyptians and Sumerians. He was allowed to draw pictures of the artifacts, but was not permitted to take any with him when he left. For one reason or another he never saw the woman or her friend again, but he published his drawings and insisted the artifacts were genuine. The archaeological world refused to accept his story. This is where the matter stood when the book was published.
Recently I have spent hours on the internet trying to find out how it all played out, but not remembering the archaeologist’s name or any of the specific details, I have failed.
Can anyone help me out? Do you know the archaeologist’s name or can you provide a cite to a discussion of the incident?