The Crystal Skull: Mystical, or Modern?
Is the crystal skull truly an ancient Mayan artifact with mysterious powers?
Filed under Aliens & UFOs, Ancient Mysteries, Paranormal
| Skeptoid #98 April 29, 2008 Podcast transcript | Listen | Subscribe |
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It was 1926 when Anna Mitchell-Hedges, adoptive daughter of British adventurer and author Frederick Albert Mitchell-Hedges, was something of a real life Lara Croft. She was crawling through an ancient Mayan temple in Belize, long ago wrecked by the ages and the ravages of the encroaching jungle. Beneath a crumbled altar, she unearthed perhaps the most curious artifact from the ancient world: A perfectly clear crystal skull, expertly carved, and immaculately preserved, and about two thirds the size of a real skull. For nearly 30 years the Mitchell-Hedges family kept the crystal skull a secret, until F.A. Mitchell-Hedges mentioned it briefly in his book Danger My Ally. In this book he said the skull was 3,600 years old, and was used by Mayan priests to strike people dead by the force of their own will. After her father's death, Anna took this so-called "Skull of Doom" on tour throughout the world, and its strange powers became well known. Arthur C. Clarke even used the Mitchell-Hedges skull as the logo for his television series Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World. The fourth Indiana Jones movie is about a crystal skull with mystical qualities, and furthers the theme originally proposed by Mitchell-Hedges that crystal skulls are alien in origin, coming from Atlantis or Roswell or some alien world. In fact, practically every reference to a crystal skull over the past 40 years or so has usually been specifically about the Mitchell-Hedges skull.
Some believers in mystical energy feel that the crystal skulls have a broad range of powers. They can be used to aid in divination, in healing, and even psychic communication. Others claim that they have refractive properties unlike other crystals. They are said to remain at exactly 70 degrees no matter what temperature they are exposed to. They possess spiritual auras that can be photographed. Some even speculate that when all the crystal skulls are brought together, it will bring about the end of the world.
Now, I'm reluctant to burst anyone's bubble, but before going further it's necessary to clear up a few misconceptions. The Mitchell-Hedges skull is not quite 3,600 years old, and Mitchell-Hedges found it a little closer to home than Belize. In fact, he bought it from Sydney Burney, a London art dealer, through a Sotheby's auction on October 15, 1943, as determined in hard black and white by investigator Joe Nickell and others. This explains why neither Mitchell-Hedges nor his daughter ever said anything about it following their alleged 1926 discovery. They had never heard of it, until they bought it 18 years later, and then invented their Mayan altar story.
So this Sydney Burney character, perhaps he was the one who actually found the skull in a Mayan ruin, and traced its history back to the Atlanteans? Well, there is additional hard evidence that Burney owned the skull as far back as 1933, because he wrote a letter about it to the American Museum of Natural History, which they still have. Three years later, the British anthropological journal Man published an article about Burney's skull, and this 1936 article remains the earliest known documentation of any crystal skull. (I've since received an 1887 New York Times article in which a paper was presented about a skull -- see next paragraph. -BD)
It seems clear, but has never been never proven, that Burney bought the skull from French collector Eugene Boban. The timing was right; the two men knew each other; and Boban is known to have sold at least two other crystal skulls about the same time Burney acquired his. If Mitchell-Hedges was the real Indiana Jones, Eugene Boban was the real Belloq. He was even French. And, like Belloq, he didn't actually go into the jungle tombs personally to acquire his artifacts. In Boban's case, he simple purchased them in bulk from the manufacturer. This time, the manufacturer was Germany's so-called "capital of the gemstone industry" Idar-Oberstein, a bucolic hamlet where artisans and craftsmen chip away at semi-precious stones in their workshops like so many Gepettos. In the 1870's, craftsmen in Idar-Oberstein made a large purchase of quartz crystals from Brazil, from which to make carvings. Nobody has ever found documented proof, but at about the time the Idar-Oberstein craftsmen were selling their cunningly carved art objects of Brazilian quartz, Eugene Boban left from there with at least three, and possibly as many as thirteen, freshly carved skulls made from Brazilian quartz. Any connection you choose to draw is purely speculative. According to documents found by Jane Walsh, a Smithsonian archivist, Boban sold one of his skulls to Tiffany's in New York City, which in turn sold it to the British Museum in 1897. Boban sold a second skull to a collector who then donated it to the Museum of Man in Paris. (An 1887 New York Times article describes the British Museum skull then in the hands of New York collector George H. Sisson, who had bought it from Eugene Boban. After this article, Sisson sold this skull to Tiffany's. -BD)
For decades, the British Museum and the Museum of Man displayed their crystal skulls with the provenances originally provided by Eugene Boban, which was that the skulls came from pre-Columbian Aztec origin. But then, in separate studies in the 1990's, both the British Museum and the Smithsonian examined a number of crystal skulls, including all of those in museum collections attributed to Eugene Boban. Analysis of the cut and polish marks by electron microscope proved that they were made using 19th century rotary cutting tools, identical to those in use in Idar-Oberstein at that time. The British Museum now lists their skull as "probably European, 19th century," and "not an authentic pre-Columbian artifact."
The Paris skull, also from Boban, was subjected to even better tests in 2008, confirming that its polishing was done using modern tools. In addition, particle accelerator tests found traces of water used during the cutting and polishing, occluded within the quartz, that positively dated the carving to between 1867 and 1886.
Neither the Mitchell-Hedges nor their skull's current owner, family friend Bill Homann, ever allowed the Mitchell-Hedges skull to be tested with modern equipment; nor have any of the owners of other famous crystal skulls like the one called Max in Texas. The privately owned skulls now confine themselves to touring to mysticism conventions, New Age hotbeds like Sedona, and charging for private viewings and sessions. So far as I've been able to find, no private crystal skull owner has ever allowed controlled tests of their claims of any mystical powers they say their skull has. If they'd like to, this is my personal guarantee to fast-track them to the James Randi Educational Foundation's million dollar prize.
There is enough of a gap in the early history of the Mitchell-Hedges skull that we cannot absolutely trace its lineage from the Idar-Oberstein workshops in the 1870's to the hands of Sydney Burney in 1933. Everything known about the skull is consistent with that history, and no evidence has ever been presented that the skull might have any other origin. There is the Mitchell-Hedges' own story of having found the skull in their pulp-fiction Mayan tomb adventure, but that story has been conclusively proven to be a fabrication by documentation from Sotheby's and Burney.
All of this makes it rather difficult to form an opinion about the mystical powers of crystal skulls. If these powers are attributed to their Mayan, Atlantean, or alien origin, then that attribution is conclusively false, but that doesn't mean the mystical power itself doesn't exist. The first thing the claimants would need to do is articulate exactly what the supernatural power is, and then demonstrate it under controlled conditions. Neither of these has ever been done, so a truly critical analysis has nothing to advance it beyond a null hypothesis. And so there we have it: All known crystal skulls are of modern origin, with no unusual properties, and no coherent or testable claims of anything out of the ordinary. Indiana Jones might make great entertainment, but it makes poor archaelogical history.
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© 2008 Skeptoid Media, Inc. Copyright information
References & Further Reading
Carroll, Robert Todd. The Skeptic's Dictionary. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2003. 92, 93.
Craddock, Paul. Scientific Investigation of Copies, Fakes and Forgeries. Burlington, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2009. 414, 415.
Garvin, Richard. The Crystal Skull: The Story of the Mystery, Myth and Magic of the Mitchell-Hedges Crystal Skull Discovered in a Lost Mayan City During a Search for Atlantis. New York: Doubleday, 1973. 75-76.
Morrill, S. Ambrose Bierce, F.A. Mitchell-Hedges and the Crystal Skull. San Francisco: Cadleon Press, 1972.
Nickell, Joe. "Riddle of the Crystal Skulls." Skeptical Inquirer. 1 Jul. 2006, Volume 30.4.
Walsh, J.M. "Legend of the Crystal Skulls." Archaeology. 1 May 2008, Volume 61, Number 3: 36-41.
Welfare, S., Fairley, J. Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World. New York: A&W Publishers, 1980.
Reference this article:
Dunning, Brian.
"The Crystal Skull: Mystical, or Modern?" Skeptoid Podcast. Skeptoid Media, Inc.,
29 Apr 2008. Web.
6 Sep 2010. <http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4098>
Discuss!
Remember, you should always read with skepticism the comments of anyone too lame to put their real name & city.
Its not the first time Indiana Jones has been involved with Crystal skulls. In 2001, at the brand new Tokyo Disney Sea theme park, "Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull" opened.
The story that Disney made up for it is that you're exploring an ancient central/south america temple and looking for the fountain of youth. You board a jeep and then, when you think you're getting close to the fountain... you disturb a crystal skull who gets PISSED and that starts the usual Indiana Jones booby traps and near death escapes. The central room of the ride even has a giant crystal skull that shoot lasers at the jeeps!
Marc, Montreal
April 30, 2008 10:26am
The trailer for the movie makes Harrison Ford look just the same as he did in his first three movies.
Okay they moved him across the screen quickly, and probably used some nice blur effects to augment his youth.
brad.tittle, bremerton
April 30, 2008 12:26pm
Good article.
As usual, another "mystery" turns out to be nothing but superstitious rubbish eagerly swallowed by the gullible.
Ron, Toronto
May 01, 2008 8:07pm
So... I place this skull in a 105 deg. f. environment, and it stays 70 deg. f.? Riiiight. Conversly, I place it in a -105 deg f. environment and it stays 70 deg f.? Double Riiiiight !! Why isnt he winning the Million dollar challenge?? And why do people believe it? And who played Lumpy on leave it to beaver? Enquiring minds want to know.
Rick VanHuss, Arlington, TX
May 05, 2008 4:48pm
I believe that the 'Powers' of many 'Religious / Magical' artifacts can be explained by the PLACEBO EFFECT.
Humans want to believe that there is something more than just mundane reality, and it is because of this belief that many 'miracles' are performed.
This in itself proves just how complex and 'miraculous' ordinary 'reality' really is.
Who needs crystal skulls or any other magical artifacts to perform 'miracles'?? The power of the the mind, the power of belief, the power of positive thinking is, all by itself, so much more 'miraculous' !
Peter L., Island of Trinidad
May 19, 2008 5:03pm
thanks for pointing out that Indiana Jones was for entertanment perposes only. i realy though it was based on a true story.
celestial-salamander, Australia (but don't tell the MIB) lol
May 25, 2008 1:32am
This movie was put out to further prepare us for our human alien encounter in a few years...more and more the media is talking about alien life. All you people stuck in the Matrix are blind to see it is really happening. Even the Pope approved alien belief.
Tee, Starbase, Atlanta GA
May 25, 2008 1:39pm
well, i dnt knw bout all the talk about this but i did learn about this from some family and it was set out to be true....if it's not? how was this made if it was found soo long ago? what kind of technology did we have back then to make such an advance crystal sulpture? It remains a mystery to me....
laquia johnson, seattle WA
May 27, 2008 10:37am
Interesting details. A probable truth to a controversial story but suffcient evidence is lacking to distictly prove or disprove either cause. Looking into the details of the tests done on the skulls proves to be rather difficult. Some vague reports are written but don't offer evidentiary support; test results, graphs, images, etc. hmmm...
Anonymous, Planet, Earth
June 05, 2008 8:04pm
This podcast pulled together several story strands that I have heard over the years. What I take from this is - The skull was of relatively recent origin (late 1800's). Most probably the skull came from Brazilian Quartz, was fashioned with european technology and came onto the market via Eugene Broban. All of the Aztec/Mayan claims have been completely discredited. It seems to have been a moneymaking/fame scam reaping financial rewards from the credulous for the perpetrators.
Kate Broughton, Nottingham UK
June 29, 2008 4:55am
The fact they wont allow testing on the skulls says it all.
Courtney Franklin, Sydney Australia
June 30, 2008 4:37pm
Even as a skeptic who discounts any attributed 'powers' to the skull I thought they were a neat historical mystery; an incongruous and somewhat enigmatic artifact. Interesting, even if not mystical.
Seeing one at the British museum in 2004 labeled "European, 19th century" was a major let-down. Now to learn that the perpetrator of the fraud bought it at an AUCTION! That's just heart-breaking to the romantic in me.
Morgan Z., Tracy, CA
August 15, 2008 3:09pm
Sir you have either ignored the evidence of a close examination of the Mitchell Hedges Crystal Skull by a reputable scientific institution, or you like so many professional sceptics chose to ignore the evidence.
Is Hewlett Packard (the worlds experts on crystals and their applications in precision measuring and testing equipment) a high enough standard for you? A team of their managers studied the skull in 1970 and concluded that "this thing should not even exisat". Their conclusion was based on two days of extensive and thorough study in the lab in Santa Clara California.
Just google Jim Pruitt..Crystal skull..Hewlwt Packard sometime and see for yourself.
Robert DeFord, Monterey, California
September 11, 2008 7:37am
Googled, found this:
"Pruitt later remarked in Measure that if the skull was a fake, it was quite an artistic one, in his opinion, and a beautiful work of crystal art regardless of its age or authenticity."
http://mrbaron-bps.livejournal.com/3824.html
The "it shouldn't exist"-thing propably comes from this:
"To compound the strangeness, HP could find no microscopic scratches on the crystal which would indicate it had been carved with metal instruments (in stark contrast to a recent report by the British Museum). Dorland's best hypothesis for the skull's construction is that it was roughly hewn out with diamonds, and then the detail work was meticulously done with a gentle solution of silicon sand and water. The exhausting job -- assuming it could possibly be done in this way -- would have required man-hours adding up to 300 years to complete (obviously a biased observation).
Under these circumstances, the HP experts believed that successfully crafting a shape as complex as the Mitchell-Hedges skull is impossible; as one HP researcher is said to have remarked, "The damned thing simply shouldn't be."
http://www.crystalskulls.us/cskull.htm
MikPal, Turku, Finland
September 28, 2008 12:17am
Ummm, I don't know who was aware of this but Mitchell-Hedges lent the skull to a fiend to keep safe while he was away, his friends son however put it up for auction which was what caused Mitchell-Hedges to buy it in an auction making everybody believe he lied and purchased the skull, his friends son refused to take it off auction, causing Mitchell-Hedges to bid for it, it was the only way he could ever get his discovery back...just so you know, everybody seems to be missing that part in their blogs trying to disprove Maya beliefs, which I myself am not to certain of, and I have done my research I do not make blind accusations like a crazy man. I guess the only way to find out will be December 21st, 2012.
Rob O'Brien, Barrie, Canada
October 10, 2008 4:10pm
where are the crystal skull graphs because im doing a presentation and i need 2 graphs or charts
Rob, Canada
February 09, 2009 2:09pm
Robert, while HP are expert in crystal technology, their expertise is in the area of crystals as components in resonant circuits - not in carving bloody great heads.
I had a look on the British Museum site (www.britishmuseum.org) after reading this today, and they have some pretty compelling evidence that the one in their collection is of recent manufacture.
Check out their site...
Brenton, New Zealand
March 09, 2009 12:52am
Mr. Brenton..first of all what does the British Museum skull have to do with the Mitchell Hedges Skull?
HP is the worlds experts on crystal growing, precision slicing or shaping crystals, and they submitted the skull to rigorous testing of the internal crystalline mass and declared "this thing should not exist" for several reasons..the most important of which is that it was "shaped"(I don’t say carved since there isno evidence of carving or sculpting), against the grain, and under ordinary circumstances would easily shatter into a gazillion pieces.
Also the precision and complexity of the skull (lower jaw is completely separate a piece, is artistically amazing in detail.
Then there are the prisms discovered by Frank Dorland when he was studying it for several years in the sixties. Different kinds of prisms that capture and channel light in a variety of ways..for what? Why? by whom? and how and where?
My web site is www.thegreatskull.com for more "speculation"
Incidentally it is not a "bloody head"(Oh I know that is a British term of sarcasm)
Robert DeFord, Monterey California
April 22, 2009 7:15pm
You are Canadian, right? That is where "California" is, isn't it?
Well, here in "Britain", we use all sorts of interesting and colourful language.
We also use all sorts of interesting research techniques - including not just stopping reading when we find something that doesn't meet with our preconceptions.
Try this article from Wikipedia...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_skull#Mitchell-Hedges_skull
I agree it isn't a fan-fiction site, and that wikipedia is NOT an authoratative source on anything - but it is a useful starting point for education.
Get your beak out the conspiracies. You may learn something.
Who knows - you may even stumble over an atlas....
Brenton, New Zealand
May 17, 2009 4:04pm
Brian, Brenton's found you out! Your a Canadian who lives in California!
This of course means everything you say is wrong.
(don't worry your not alone I am an Australia who used to live in South Korea)
Claire, Melbourne, Australia
July 07, 2009 7:06pm
Hm, while these skulls are clearly of modern origin, I am not yet convinced they do not have magical powers.
Timothy, Calgary, Alberta
July 29, 2009 5:16pm
"Hm, while these skulls are clearly of modern origin, I am not yet convinced they do not have magical powers."
Timothy, Calgary, Alberta
Then what are the skulls' "magical" powers, and why would they have been endowed with those mystical powers if they are just fairly modern machined crystal blocks?
Since they're modern creations, there wouldn't be any ancient texts containing the fancy gobbledygook necessary to activate or control them. And if they're modern enough to need mechanical means to activate their powers it seems odd to call anything they might do "magical".
Lewayne, Near Des Moines
September 28, 2009 4:34pm
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Great, I always wondered about the skulls, had'nt heard any of the mystical claims but thats not a supprise as they where a passing intrest at best.
Glad to hear the truth behind them
Paul Confer, Denver
April 29, 2008 8:53am