user30732: A stork brings them... or...
One of the basic principles on a dist. system is lack of a global clock. 
So how are the timestamps assigned to blocks, by the machine that mines it? Couldn't it just insert a fake one? 
On page 7 of the Ethereum whitepaper Vitalik says that the algorithm for checking that a block is valid contains the following check: 
Check that the timestamp of the block is greater than that of the [median of the 11 previous blocks] and less than 2 hours into the future
So then this notion of time in BTC is quite fuzzy isn't it? 
Is there anything I can read that will tell me the exact time bounds of the BTC system? 

user24926: A miner applies their own timestamp to a block.
Nodes add the first block they receive to the top their chain. They will not replace the current tip of their chain with a newly received block just because it has an earlier timestamp.
Therefore, you can think timestamp is a rough indicator of when the block was formed by the miner.

From bitcoin.it/wiki/Block_timestamp:

A timestamp is accepted as valid if it is greater than the median timestamp of previous 11 blocks, and less than the network-adjusted time + 2 hours.

So I suppose a miner can insert a "fake" timestamp, insomuch that it is between these two bounds. Nonetheless, a "fake" timestamp will not influence its position in the blockchain.

30732: <p>A <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_stork#Storks_and_childbirth" rel="noreferrer">stork brings them</a>... or...</p>

<p>One of the basic principles on a dist. system is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distributed_computing" rel="noreferrer">lack of a global clock</a>. </p>

<p>So how are the timestamps assigned to blocks, by the machine that mines it? Couldn't it just insert a fake one? </p>

<p>On page 7 of the <a href="https://github.com/ethereum/wiki/wiki/White-Paper" rel="noreferrer">Ethereum whitepaper</a> Vitalik says that the algorithm for checking that a block is valid contains the following check: </p>

<p><code>Check that the timestamp of the block is greater than that of the [median of the 11 previous blocks] and less than 2 hours into the future</code></p>

<p>So then this notion of time in BTC is quite fuzzy isn't it? </p>

<p>Is there anything I can read that will tell me the exact time bounds of the BTC system? </p>
 24926: <p>A miner applies their own timestamp to a block.</p>

<p>Nodes add <strong>the first block they receive</strong> to the top their chain. They will not replace the current tip of their chain with a newly received block just because it has an earlier timestamp.</p>

<p>Therefore, you can think timestamp is a rough indicator of when the block was formed by the miner.</p>

<hr>

<p>From <a href="https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Block_timestamp" rel="noreferrer">bitcoin.it/wiki/Block_timestamp</a>:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>A timestamp is accepted as valid if it is greater than the median timestamp of previous 11 blocks, and less than the network-adjusted time + 2 hours.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>So I suppose a miner can insert a "fake" timestamp, insomuch that it is between these two bounds. Nonetheless, a "fake" timestamp will not influence its position in the blockchain.</p>
