This article is about The Crystal Skulls. For other uses, see Crystal skull (disambiguation).

The crystal skull at the British Museum (ID Am1898C3.1 ), similar in dimensions to the more
detailed Mitchell-Hedges skull.

The crystal skulls are a number of human skull hardstone carvings made of clear or milky quartz
rock, known in art history as "rock crystal", claimed to be pre-Columbian Mesoamerican artifacts
by their alleged finders. However, none of the specimens made available for scientific study have
been authenticated as pre-Columbian in origin. The results of these studies demonstrated that
those examined were manufactured in the mid-19th century or later, almost certainly in
Europe.[1] Despite some claims presented in an assortment of popularizing literature, legends of
crystal skulls with mystical powers do not figure in genuine Mesoamerican or other Native
American mythologies and spiritual accounts.[2]

The skulls are often claimed to exhibit paranormal phenomena by some members of the New
Age movement, and have often been portrayed as such in fiction. Crystal skulls have been a
popular subject appearing in numerous sci-fi television series,[3] novels,[4] and video games.[5]

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[edit] Crystal skull collections

A distinction has been made by some researchers between the smaller bead-sized crystal skulls,
which first appear in the mid-19th century, and the larger (approximately life-sized) skulls that
appear toward the end of that century.[citation needed] The larger crystal skulls have attracted nearly
all the popular attention in recent times, and some researchers believe that all of these have been
manufactured as forgeries in Europe.

Trade in fake pre-Columbian artifacts developed during the late 19th century to the extent that in
1886, Smithsonian archaeologist William Henry Holmes wrote an article called "The Trade in
Spurious Mexican Antiquities" for Science.[6] Although museums had acquired skulls earlier, it
was Eugne Boban, an antiquities dealer who opened his shop in Paris in 1870, who is most
associated with 19th-century museum collections of crystal skulls. Most of Boban's collection,
including three crystal skulls, was sold to the ethnographer Alphonse Pinart, who donated the
collection to the Trocadro Museum, which later became the Muse de l'Homme.

[edit] Research into crystal skull origins

Aztec or Mixtec mask with mosaic inlays

Many crystal skulls are claimed to be pre-Columbian, usually attributed to the Aztec or Maya
civilizations. Mesoamerican art has numerous representations of skulls, but none of the skulls in
museum collections come from documented excavations.[7] Research carried out on several
crystal skulls at the British Museum in 1967, 1996 and again in 2004 has shown that the indented
lines marking the teeth (for these skulls had no separate jawbone, unlike the Mitchell-Hedges
skull) were carved using jeweler's equipment (rotary tools) developed in the 19th century,
making a supposed pre-Columbian origin problematic.[8] The type of crystal was determined by
examination of chlorite inclusions, and is only to be found in Madagascar and Brazil, and thus
unobtainable or unknown within pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. The study concluded that the
skulls were crafted in the 19th century in Germany, quite likely at workshops in the town of Idar-
Oberstein renowned for crafting objects made from imported Brazilian quartz at this period in
the late 19th century.[9]
It has been established that both the British Museum and Paris's Muse de l'Homme[10] crystal
skulls were originally sold by the French antiquities dealer Eugne Boban, who was operating in
Mexico City between 1860 and 1880.[11] The British Museum crystal skull transited through New
York's Tiffany's, whilst the Muse de l'Homme's crystal skull was donated by Alphonse Pinart,
an ethnographer who had bought it from Boban.

An investigation carried out by the Smithsonian Institution in 1992 on a crystal skull provided by
an anonymous source who claimed to have purchased it in Mexico City in 1960 and that it was
of Aztec origin concluded that it, too, was made in recent years. According to the Smithsonian,
Boban acquired the crystal skulls he sold from sources in Germany findings that are in keeping
with those of the British Museum.[12]

A detailed study of the British Museum and Smithsonian crystal skulls was accepted for
publication by the Journal of Archaeological Science in May 2008.[13] Using electron
microscopy and X-ray crystallography, a team of British and American researchers found that
the British Museum skull was worked with a harsh abrasive substance such as corundum or
diamond, and shaped using a rotary disc tool made from some suitable metal. The Smithsonian
specimen had been worked with a different abrasive, namely the silicon-carbon compound
carborundum which is a synthetic substance manufactured using modern industrial
techniques.[14] Since the synthesis of carborundum dates only to the 1890s and its wider
availability to the 20th century, the researchers concluded "[t]he suggestion is that it was made in
the 1950s or later".[15]

[edit] Speculations on smaller skulls

None of the skulls in museums come from documented excavations. A parallel example is
provided by obsidian mirrors, ritual objects widely depicted in Aztec art. Although a few
surviving obsidian mirrors come from archaeological excavations,[16] none of the Aztec-style
obsidian mirrors are so documented. Yet most authorities on Aztec material culture consider the
Aztec-style obsidian mirrors as authentic pre-Columbian objects.[17] Archaeologist Michael E.
Smith reports a non peer-reviewed find of a small crystal skull at an Aztec site in the Valley of
Mexico.[18] Crystal skulls have been described as "A fascinating example of artifacts that have
made their way into museums with no scientific evidence to prove their rumored pre-Columbian
origins."[19] A similar case is the "Olmec-style" face mask in jade; hardstone carvings of a face in
a mask form. Curators and scholars refer to these as "Olmec-style", as to date no example has
been recovered in an archaeologically controlled Olmec context, although they appear Olmec in
style. However they have been recovered from sites of other cultures, including one deliberately
deposited in the ceremonial precinct of Tenochtitlan (Mexico City), which would presumably
have been about 2,000 years old when the Aztecs buried it, suggesting these were as valued and
collected as Roman antiquities were in Europe.[20]

[edit] Individual skulls

[edit] Mitchell-Hedges skull
Perhaps the most famous and enigmatic skull was allegedly discovered in 1924 by Anna Le
Guillon Mitchell-Hedges, adopted daughter of British adventurer and popularist author F.A.
Mitchell-Hedges. It is the subject of a video documentary made in 1990, Crystal Skull of
Lubaantun.[21] It has been noted upon examination by Smithsonian researchers to be "very nearly
a replica of the British Museum skull--almost exactly the same shape, but with more detailed
modeling of the eyes and the teeth."[22] Anna Hedges claimed that she found the skull buried
under a collapsed altar inside a temple in Lubaantun, in British Honduras, now Belize.[23] As far
as can be ascertained, F.A. Mitchell-Hedges himself made no mention of the alleged discovery in
any of his writings on Lubaantun. Also, others present at the time of the excavation have not
been documented as noting either the skull's discovery or Anna's presence at the dig.[24]

In a 1970 letter, Anna also stated that she was, "told by the few remaining Maya that the skull
was used by the high priest to will death."[25] For this reason, the artifact is sometimes referred to
as "The Skull of Doom". An alternative explanation[who?] is a play on 'Skull of Dunn' (Dunn
being an associate of Mitchell-Hedges)[citation needed]. Anna Mitchell-Hedges toured with the skull
from 1967 exhibiting it on a pay-per-view basis,[26] and she continued to give interviews about
the artifact until her death in 2007.

The skull is made from a block of clear quartz about the size of a small human cranium,
measuring some 5 inches (13 cm) high, 7 inches (18 cm) long and 5 inches wide. The lower jaw
is detached. In the early 1970s it came under the temporary care of freelance art restorer Frank
Dorland, who claimed upon inspecting it that it had been "carved" with total disregard to the
natural crystal axes without the use of metal tools. Dorland reported being unable to find any
tell-tale scratch marks, except for traces of mechanical grinding on the teeth, and he speculated
that it was first chiseled into rough form, probably using diamonds, and the finer shaping,
grinding and polishing was achieved through the use of sand over a period of 150 to 300 years.
He said it could be up to 12,000 years old. Although various claims have been made over the
years regarding the skull's physical properties, such as an allegedly constant temperature of 70 F
(21 C), Dorland reported that there was no difference in properties between it and other natural
quartz crystals.[27]

While in Dorland's care the skull came to the attention of writer Richard Garvin, at the time
working at an advertising agency where he supervised Hewlett-Packard's advertising account.
Garvin made arrangements for the skull to be examined at HP's crystal labs at Santa Clara, where
it was subjected to several tests. The labs determined only that it was not a composite (as
Dorland had supposed), but that it was fashioned from a single crystal of quartz.[28] The lab test
also established that the lower jaw had been fashioned from the same left-handed growing crystal
as the rest of the skull.[29] No investigation was made by HP as to its method of manufacture or
dating.[30]

As well as the traces of mechanical grinding on the teeth noted by Dorland,[31] Mayanist
archaeologist Norman Hammond reported that the holes (presumed to be intended for support
pegs) showed signs of being made by drilling with metal.[32] Anna Mitchell-Hedges refused
subsequent requests to submit the skull for further scientific testing.[33]
F. A. Mitchell-Hedges mentioned the skull only briefly in the first edition of his autobiography,
Danger My Ally (1954), without specifying where or by whom it was found.[34] He merely
claimed that "it is at least 3,600 years old and according to legend it was used by the High Priest
of the Maya when he was performing esoteric rites. It is said that when he willed death with the
help of the skull, death invariably followed".[35] All subsequent editions of Danger My Ally
omitted mention of the skull entirely.[33]

Eugne Boban, main French dealer in pre-Columbian artifacts during the second half of the 19th
century and probable source of many famous skulls

The earliest published reference to the skull is the July 1936 issue of the British anthropological
journal Man, where it is described as being in the possession of Mr. Sydney Burney, a London
art dealer who is said to have owned it since 1933.[36] No mention was made of Mitchell-Hedges.
There is documentary evidence that Mitchell-Hedges bought it from Burney in 1944.[33] The
skull was in the custody of Anna Mitchell-Hedges, the adopted daughter of Frederick. She
steadfastly refused to let it be examined by experts (making very doubtful the claim that it was
reported on by R. Stansmore Nutting in 1962). Somewhere between 19881990 Anna Mitchell-
Hedges toured with the skull.

In her last eight years, Anna Mitchell-Hedges lived in Chesterton, Indiana, with Bill Homann,
whom she married in 2002. She died on April 11, 2007. Since that time the Mitchell-Hedges
Skull has been in the custody of Bill Homann. He continues to believe in its mystical
properties.[37]

[edit] British Museum skull

The crystal skull of the British Museum first appeared in 1881, in the shop of the Paris
antiquarian, Eugne Boban. Its origin was not stated in his catalog of the time. He is said to have
tried to sell it to Mexico's national museum as an Aztec artifact, but was unsuccessful. Boban
later moved his business to New York City, where the skull was sold to George H. Sisson. It was
exhibited at the meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in New
York City in 1887 by George F. Kunz.[38] It was sold at auction, and bought by Tiffany and Co.,
who later sold it at cost to the British Museum in 1897.[39] This skull is very similar to the
Mitchell-Hedges skull, although it is less detailed and does not have a movable lower jaw.[40]

The British Museum catalogues the skull's provenance as "probably European, 19th century
AD"[41] and describes it as "not an authentic pre-Columbian artefact".[42] It has been established
that this skull was made with modern tools, and that it is not authentic.[43]

[edit] Paris skull

Some believers in the paranormal claim that crystal skulls can produce a variety of miracles. Ann
Mitchell-Hedges claimed that the skull she allegedly discovered could cause visions, cure cancer,
that she once used its magical properties to kill a man, and that in another instance, she saw in it
a premonition of the John F. Kennedy assassination.[49]

In the 1931 play The Satin Slipper by Paul Claudel, King Philip II of Spain uses "a death's head
made from a single piece of rock crystal," lit by "a ray of the setting sun," to see the defeat of his
Armada in its attack on England (day 4, scene 4, pp. 24344).[50]

Claims of the healing and supernatural powers of crystal skulls have no support in the scientific
community, which has found no evidence of any unusual phenomena associated with the skulls
nor any reason for further investigation, other than the confirmation of their provenance and

method of manufacture

Crystal skull at the Muse du quai Branly, Paris

The largest of the three skulls sold by Eugne Boban to Alphonse Pinart (sometimes called the
Paris Skull), about 10 cm (4 in) high, has a hole drilled vertically through its center.[44] It is part
of a collection held at the Muse du Quai Branly, and was subjected to scientific tests carried out
in 200708 by France's national Centre de recherche et de restauration des muses de France
(Centre for Research and Restoration of the Museums in France, or C2RMF). After a series of
analyses carried out over three months, C2RMF engineers concluded that it was "certainly not
pre-Columbian, it shows traces of polishing and abrasion by modern tools."[45] Particle
accelerator tests also revealed occluded traces of water that were dated to the 19th century, and
the Quai Branly released a statement that the tests "seem to indicate that it was made late in the
19th century."[46]

In 2009 the C2RMF researchers published results of further investigations to establish when the
Paris skull had been carved. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis indicated the use of
lapidary machine tools in its carving. The results of a new dating technique known as quartz
hydration dating (QHD) demonstrated that the Paris skull had been carved later than a reference
quartz specimen artifact, known to have been cut in 1740. The researchers conclude that the
SEM and QHD results combined with the skull's known provenance indicate it was carved in the
18th or 19th century.[47]

[edit] Smithsonian Skull

The "Smithsonian Skull", which is Catalogue No. A562841-0 in the collections of the
Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, was mailed to the
Smithsonian Institution anonymously in 1992, and was claimed to be an Aztec object by its
donor and was purportedly from the collection of Porfirio Diaz. It is the largest of the skulls,
weighing 31 pounds and is 15 inches high. It was carved using carborundum, a modern abrasive.
It has been displayed as a fake at the National Museum of Natural History.[48]

[edit] Paranormal claims and spiritual associations

Some believers in the paranormal claim that crystal skulls can produce a variety of miracles. Ann
Mitchell-Hedges claimed that the skull she allegedly discovered could cause visions, cure cancer,
that she once used its magical properties to kill a man, and that in another instance, she saw in it
a premonition of the John F. Kennedy assassination.[49]

In the 1931 play The Satin Slipper by Paul Claudel, King Philip II of Spain uses "a death's head
made from a single piece of rock crystal," lit by "a ray of the setting sun," to see the defeat of his
Armada in its attack on England (day 4, scene 4, pp. 24344).[50]

Claims of the healing and supernatural powers of crystal skulls have no support in the scientific
community, which has found no evidence of any unusual phenomena associated with the skulls
nor any reason for further investigation, other than the confirmation of their provenance and
method of manufacture.[51]

Another novel and historically unfounded speculation ties in the legend of the crystal skulls with
the completion of the current Maya calendar b'ak'tun-cycle on December 21, 2012, claiming the
re-uniting of the thirteen mystical skulls will forestall a catastrophe allegedly predicted or
implied by the ending of this calendar. An airing of this claim appeared (among an assortment of
others made) in The Mystery of the Crystal Skulls,[52] a 2008 program produced for the Sci Fi
Channel in May and shown on Discovery Channel Canada in June. Interviewees included
Richard Hoagland, who attempted to link the skulls and the Maya to life on Mars, and David
Hatcher Childress, proponent of lost Atlantean civilizations and anti-gravity claims.
Crystal skulls are also referenced by author Drunvalo Melchizedek in his book Serpent of
Light.[53] He writes that he came across indigenous Mayan descendants in possession of crystal
skulls at ceremonies at temples in the Yucatn, which he writes contained souls of ancient
Mayans who had entered the skulls to await the time when their ancient knowledge would once
again be required.

The alleged associations and origins of crystal skull mythology in Native American spiritual lore,
as advanced by neoshamanic writers such as Jamie Sams, are similarly discounted.[54] Instead, as
Philip Jenkins notes, crystal skull mythology may be traced back to the "baroque legends"
initially spread by F.A. Mitchell-Hedges, and then afterwards taken up:

By the 1970s, the crystal skulls [had] entered New Age mythology as potent relics of ancient
Atlantis, and they even acquired a canonical number: there were exactly thirteen skulls.
None of this would have anything to do with North American Indian matters, if the skulls had
not attracted the attention of some of the most active New Age writers.[55]

[edit] Crystal skulls in popular culture

Main article: Crystal skulls in popular culture

For the Love of God, a diamond-encrusted skull made by artist Damien Hirst.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, film that revolves around a fictional
back-story to the lore of crystal skulls.
Legend of the Crystal Skull, video game which involves searching for a lost crystal skull.