Crystal skulls are human skull hardstone carvings made of clear, milky white or other types of quartz (also called "rock crystal"), claimed to be pre-Columbian Mesoamerican artifacts by their alleged finders; however, these claims have been refuted for all of the specimens made available for scientific studies. The results of these studies demonstrated that those examined were manufactured in the mid-19th century or later, almost certainly in Europe, during a time when interest in ancient culture abounded.Jenkins (2004, p. 217), Sax et al. (2008), Smith (2005), Walsh (1997; 2008). The skulls appear to have been crafted in Germany, quite likely at workshops in the town of Idar-Oberstein, which was renowned for crafting objects made from imported Brazilian quartz in the late 19th century.Craddock (2009, p. 415).
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.Aldred (2000, passim.); Jenkins (2004, pp. 218–219). In this latter work, Philip Jenkins, former Distinguished Professor of History and Religious Studies and subsequent endowed Professor of Humanities at PSU, writes that crystal skulls are among the more obvious of examples where the association with Native spirituality is a "historically recent" and "artificial" synthesis. These are "products of a generation of creative spiritual entrepreneurs" that do not "[represent] the practice of any historical community". 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 science fiction television series, novels, films (including Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) and video games.
Collections 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.Holmes (1886) Although museums had acquired skulls earlier, it was Eugène 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 Trocadéro Museum, which later became the Musée de l'Homme.
Research 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.Walsh (2008) Research carried out on several crystal skulls at the British Museum in 1967, 1996 and 2004 shows 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 pre-Columbian origin untenable.Craddock (2009, p. 415)
The type of crystal used for these skulls was identified by examination of chlorite inclusions. It is only 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, which was renowned for crafting objects made from imported Brazilian quartz in the late 19th century.
It has been established that the crystal skulls in the British Museum and Paris's Musée de l'HommeThe specimen at the Musée de l'Homme is half-sized. were originally sold by the French antiquities dealer Eugène Boban, who was operating in Mexico City between 1860 and 1880.See "The mystery of the British Museum's crystal skull is solved. It's a fake", in The Independent (Connor 2005). See also the museum's issued public statement on its crystal skull (British Museum (n.d.-c). The British Museum crystal skull transited through New York's Tiffany & Co., while the Musée de l'Homme's crystal skull was donated by Alphonse Pinart, an ethnographer who had bought it from Boban.
In 1992, the Smithsonian Institution investigated a crystal skull provided by an anonymous source; the source claimed to have purchased it in Mexico City in 1960, and that it was of Aztec origin. The investigation concluded that this skull also was made recently. According to the Smithsonian, Boban acquired his crystal skulls from sources in Germany, aligning with conclusions made by the British Museum.See the account given by Smithsonian anthropologist Jane Walsh of her joint investigations with British Museum's materials scientist Margaret Sax, which ascertained the crystal skull specimens to be 19th century fakes, in Smith (2005). See also Walsh (1997).
The Journal of Archaeological Science published a detailed study by the British Museum and the Smithsonian in May 2008.Sax et al. (2008) 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 silicon carbide (carborundum), a silicon-carbon compound which is a synthetic substance manufactured using modern industrial techniques.Carborundum occurs naturally only in minute amounts in the extremely rare mineral moissanite, first identified in a meteorite in 1893. See summary of the discovery and history of silicon carbide in Kelly (n.d.) 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".See reportage of the study in Rincon (2008), and the study itself in Sax et al. (2008).
Individual skulls British Museum skull The crystal skull of the British Museum first appeared in 1881, in the shop of the Paris antiquarian, Eugène Boban. Its origin was not stated in his catalogue 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. It was sold at auction, and bought by Tiffany and Co., who later sold it at cost to the British Museum in 1897. This skull is very similar to the Mitchell-Hedges skull, although it is less detailed and does not have a movable lower jaw.Digby (1936)
The British Museum catalogues the skull's provenance as "probably European, 19th century AD" and describes it as "not an authentic pre-Columbian artefact".See also articles on the investigations which established it to be a fake, in Connor (2005), Jury (2005), Smith (2005), and Walsh (1997, 2008). It has been established that this skull was made with modern tools, and that it is not authentic.Rincon (2008), Sax et al. (2008)
Mitchell-Hedges skull Perhaps the most famous and enigmatic skull was allegedly discovered in 1924 by Anna Mitchell-Hedges, adopted daughter of British adventurer and popular author F. A. Mitchell-Hedges. It is the subject of a video documentary made in 1990, Crystal Skull of Lubaantun. It was examined and described by Smithsonian researchers as "very nearly a replica of the British Museum skullalmost exactly the same shape, but with more detailed modeling of the eyes and the teeth".Walsh (2008). See also the 1936 debate on its resemblance to the British Museum skull, in Digby (1936) and Morant (1936), passim.
Mitchell-Hedges claimed that she found the skull buried under a collapsed altar inside a temple in Lubaantun, in British Honduras, now Belize.See Garvin (1973, caption to photo 25); also Nickell (2007, p. 67). 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. Others present at the time of the excavation recorded neither the skull's discovery nor Anna's presence at the dig.Nickell (2007, pp. 68–69) Recent evidence has come to light showing that F.A. Mitchell-Hedges purchased the skull at a Sotheby's auction in London on 15 October 1943, from London art dealer Sydney Burney. In December 1943, F. A. Mitchell-Hedges disclosed his purchase of the skull in a letter to his brother, stating plainly that he acquired it from Burney.National Geographic Society, "The Truth Behind: The Crystal Skulls" (2011), a broadcast which includes an interview with Dr. Jane Walsh, Smithsonian Institution: "It was sold at auction, at Sotheby's, to Frederick Mitchell-Hedges, so he didn't get it at Lubaantun, he didn't dig it up".
The skull is made from a block of clear quartz about the size of a small human cranium, measuring some high, long and 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 axis, and 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.Dorland, in a May 1983 letter to Joe Nickell, cited in Nickell (2007, p. 70).
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 Hewlett-Packard's crystal laboratories in Santa Clara, California, 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.See Garvin (1973, pp. 75–76), also Hewlett-Packard (1971, p. 9). The test involved immersing the skull in a liquid (benzyl alcohol) with the same diffraction coefficient and viewing it under polarized light. The laboratory test also established that the lower jaw had been fashioned from the same left-handed growing crystal as the rest of the skull.Garvin (1973, pp. 75–76); Hewlett-Packard (1971, p. 9). No investigation was made by Hewlett-Packard as to its method of manufacture or dating.Hewlett-Packard (1971, p. 10).
As well as the traces of mechanical grinding on the teeth noted by Dorland,Garvin (1973, p. 84); also cited in Nickell (2007, p. 70). Mayanist archaeologist Norman Hammond reported that the holes (presumed to be intended for support pegs) showed signs of being made by drilling with metal.Hammond, in a May 1983 letter to Nickell, cited in Nickell (2007, p. 70). See also Hammond's recounting of his meeting with Anna Mitchell-Hedges and the skull in an article written for The Times, in Hammond (2008). Anna Mitchell-Hedges refused subsequent requests to submit the skull for further scientific testing.Nickell (2007, p. 69)