A 2008 study led by the Smithsonian Institute found that likely all the 13 life-size quartz crystal skulls are likely fakes.
YoutubeThe caption of the crystal skull start with the 1924 Mitchell - Hedges Skull , a.k.a . the “ Skull of Doom . ”
In 1924 , British explorer Frederick Mitchell - Hedges go an despatch to Lubaantun , an ancient Mayan metropolis deep within the Yucatan hobo camp in modern - day Belize . There inside a Mayan pyramid , his adopted daughter , Anna , find out one of the most mysterious object in archaeology : a quartz skull fashioned out of a individual solid piece of clear crystal .
Since the uncovering of the Mitchell - Hedges skull , as it is called , an stock story of supernatural powers and fabled civilizations has break . But can any of these legends be trusted ?
YoutubeThe legend of the crystal skulls started with the 1924 Mitchell-Hedges Skull, a.k.a. the “Skull of Doom.”
A Mythic Past
The Mitchell - Hedges skull is one of a fistful of rightful crystal skull in either a private or a public aggregation . All are wide-ranging in size and carved from either open , cloudy , or one-sided quartz . But none of the watch crystal skulls have captivate the pop imaginativeness quite like the Mitchell - Hedges skull .
Frederick Mitchell - Hedges , who was known to aggrandize his escapade , wrote of the skull in his 1954 memoirDanger My Allyand claimed it was a relic of the Mayans . He dubbed it the “ skull of doom ” and that “ several hoi polloi who have cynically laughed at it have died , others have been stricken and become badly sick . ” Finally , he cryptically add : “ how it come into my ownership I have understanding for not revealing . ”
After his expiry , Anna Mitchell - Hedges spent decades spread the skull ’s mythos globally on international tours and through visual aspect on television shows such as Arthur C. Clarke ’s Mysterious World . To an audience , she report that the Mayans told her that the skull was used to “ will end . ”
YoutubeAnna Mitchell-Hedges toured worldwide with the “Skull of Doom” and gave lectures on its purported psychic powers and mythic past.
Other so - called wizard crystallization skulls from secret collections came out of the carpentry with alien sound name calling such as Sha Na Ra , and Amar , the name of a “ Tibetan ” vitreous silica skull . Another was just called Max the crystal skull .
These quartz skulls became part of a big , allegedly Native American , prophecy which claimed that when13 of themwere finally reunite , the skulls would disseminate worldwide noesis and secrets critical to humanity ’s survival . But only when humanity was quick .
The presence of similar skulls in the collections of the Musee du Quai Branly in Paris and the British Museum in London seemed only to legitimize these fanciful stories . However , while anthropologists and scientists from both these prestigious museums drop the possible action of the vitreous silica skull rise from Atlantis or out outer space , many were curious about the true origins and purpose of these exotic , and macabre target .
Wikimedia CommonsEugene Boban.
Where Are They Really From?
YoutubeAnna Mitchell - Hedges toured worldwide with the “ Skull of Doom ” and gave lectures on its propose psychic powers and mythic past .
Both museums had exhibit their quartz glass skull as Mesoamerican Aztec artifacts for over 100 geezerhood , though their authenticity was oppugn long before the 20th century even set about . Still , it was n’t until a milky - clean rock crystal skull wasdelivered anonymously to the Smithsonian Institutein Washington D.C. in 1992 that the mystery of the crystal skulls ’ origins would finally be unraveled .
The only evidence that come with it was an unsigned note which read : “ This Aztec skull … was buy in Mexico in 1960 … ” With Mexico as the only lead , researching the skull fell to Jane McLaren Walsh , an expert in Mexican archeology at the Smithsonian . With little entropy to go on , Walsh compare the skull from other museums , search museum archives and use scientific inquiry to find answer . finally , her quest would go to the Mitchell - Hedges skull .
One of the first things Walsh noticed was the stylistic conflict between the quartz glass skulls and those depicted in Mesoamerican art . Skulls were a recur motive in pre - Colombian iconography , but Mesoamerican skull were almost always carved out of basalt and were artlessly carved . In addition , quartz glass was seldom used in pre - Colombian artifacts , and no quartz glass skulls had ever been found in any document archaeological excavation .
With the intention of the watch glass skull remaining an enigma , Walsh move around her aid to the skull ’s documented record of possession . She draw both the British and Paris skulls to a nineteenth - century amateur archeologist and French antiquities dealer named Eugene Boban . Boban , who specialized in Aztec artifacts , frequently traveled to Mexico to buy antiquity and take them back to Paris to sell in his shop .
Boban had a record of betray fake , but neither museum had buy the skulls directly from him . Boban had in the first place sold the skull to Alphonse Pinart , an explorer , who it seems off - load the skull to another museum in 1878 after the Exposition Universelle noted that “ the [ skull ’s ] authenticity appear in question . ”
20 class later , in 1898 , the British Museum buy their skull from Tiffany and Co. The jewellery store had bought the skull directly from Boban sometime after he left Mexico for New York . Boban had left Mexico in a hurry after attempt to deal the same crystallization skull to the National Museum of Mexico under the false title that it was an Aztec artifact unearthed in a Mexican archaeological web site .
Do Crystal Skulls Have Powers?
Wikimedia CommonsEugene Boban .
With the crystal skulls ’ pre - Colombian origin in doubtfulness , Walsh turn to science to determine when and where they were made . Under a collaborative computer program adjust up in 1996 between the Smithsonian and British museums , Walsh received help from Margaret Sax , a preservation scientist from the British Museum .
The scientific study focused solely on the skulls in their museums . Radiocarbon date , one of the most common tests used to determine the age of an target , was rule out because it can not date quartz . Instead , other forms of analysis were used to determine the biography of the British and Smithsonian skull .
Using light and scanning electron microscopy ( SEM ) , Walsh and Sax liken the surfaces of the skull with the surface of a genuine Mesoamerican crystal goblet , which is one of the few pre - Colombian crystallization objects .
The maverick etch marks on the goblet were consistent with paw - held tools , but inconsistent with the regular etch marks on the skull . These regular etch marks demonstrate the skull were construct with more equipment like a rotary wheel , which could only have been uncommitted after the Spanish seduction and subsequent fall of Mexico ’s aboriginal peoples .
Next , raman spectroscopic analysis was used to determine the descent of the crystal . Crystal has specific impurities consistent with where they ’re from . The impurity on the skull in the British Museum disclose that the crystal originated from Brazil or Madagascar and not Mexico .
In the late nineteenth century , Madagascar and Brazil export rock candy quartz glass to France at the same time Boban was selling antiquities and fakes . by and by , an sovereign test conclude that the crystal used for the Paris skull also came from either Brazil or Madagascar .
However , the Smithsonian skull bear a different event entirely . Using X - Ray Diffraction Analysis , Sax find out minute particles of silicate carbide , a sludgy substance used to surface a rotary bike to give an target a smooth finish . But this substance only come into economic consumption during the 1950s , thus making the Smithsonian skull ’s construction far more late .
The resolution show conclusively that all three skull were too modern to be Mayan or Aztec , countenance alone from Atlantis . Now , only one skull stay – the Mitchell - Hedges skull .
The Mitchell-Hedges Skull In The Final Analysis
In her inquiry , Walsh found irrefutable proof the Mitchell - Hedges skull was just as unremarkable as the other vitreous silica skull . In an article from the July 1936 variation of the British journalMan , a photograph quite clearly shows the same skull owned by Mitchell - Hedges except that it is referred to as the Burney skull .
It appear that in 1936 , nine to 12 years after the Mitchell - Hedges family claimed to have discovered the watch crystal skull , a London artistry dealer named Sydney Burney possess it . Further research indicate that Burney sell his crystal skull to Frederick Mitchell - Hedges in an auction at Sotheby ’s . With no record of the skull get hold before 1934 , it come along the conjecture discovery at Lubaantun was a fraud .
Then in April 2008 , a class after Anna Mitchell - Hughes died at the eld of 100 , the same scientific tests verified that the Mitchell - Hedges skull was also of modern grammatical construction . Walsh added that the most famous of vitreous silica skulls had almost identical dimensions to the British Museum skull and may , in fact , be a written matter of the British Museum skull .
That same year , Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skullhit the theaters and features the deed of conveyance adventurer search for an ancient artefact in Peru . The picture show of course sparked further pastime in the mythos of the crystal skull .
However , many still refuse to acknowledge that the skulls are without ancient origins . allot to books written by alternate theorists , Sha Na Ra , and Max the watch glass skull were both tested at the British Museum as well . It is alleged that Walsh was asked for the results of the scientific examination on Sha Na Ra and Max , and responded with“no comment . ”
After this crash course in the origins of crystal skulls , break out thesecreepy legends with true origins . Then , read aboutLa Noche Triste , when the Aztecs almost bilk a Spanish putsch .
