The Crystal Skull

by USC Aiken Student (BD)

Skull from the British Museum

Crystal skulls sometimes referred to as rock crystals are carved skulls that came about beginning around the 19th century and are considered works of art. Some are crystal clear and some are smoky colored. Some of them are human sized with fine detail while others are small and have less detail. Some people think it is a myth but according to Richard A. Lovett and Scot Hoffman, “We believe the Crystal Skulls are a form of computer which are able to record energy and vibration that occur round them.” “The skull will pictorially replay all events or images of the people who have come into contact with them (i.e. they contain the history of our world).” Thousands of them are produced in China, Brazil, and Germany each year but cost very little because they are mainly purchased by individuals because of their beliefs that they contain magical powers. There are many who are fascinated by crystal skulls and spend a lot of money on fakes so that they can display them in their own collection or have them because of their belief in the magical powers that not anyone can possess. Authentic skulls originated in Mexico and in Central America and no one really knows who made them or why.

Though the crystal skulls have had many archaeologists curious for years, there are stories about the skulls that they were thought to have supernatural powers and those that delve in the paranormal would invest in them. Some have the belief that they are associated with death and mortality. Mysteries surrounding the skulls claimed that they possessed supernatural powers with the ability to heal and expand psychic abilities and powers from people who have been in the presence of the skulls. There are dozens of these skulls in private and public collections but it is unclear as to how many because of the many fakes that are in circulation. Many of these skulls were carved thousands of years ago by ancient Mesoamerican civilizations. The 13 Crystal Skulls are shared by the original peoples of the Mayan and Aztecan tribes along with Native Americans as to their origin. That is supposedly where they originated from used by shamans or so called witch doctors in their healing rituals and each skull supposedly contained particular information needed and that one is no good without the other, hence the set together contain the information. Recent electron microscope analysis of skulls by British Museum and the Smithsonian Institute revealed markings could have only been made with modern carving tools. Thus proving that some were fake. (Electron microscopes are used because of it has the ability of high magnification and resolution as it uses beams instead of light.) Both of the museums estimate their skulls to date to sometime in the mid to late 1800’s. At that time most were interested in different pieces that were found in excavations to see if they were from ancient tribes and civilizations to display.

Though most of the information on the crystal skulls are mainly superstitious, there are a lot of people that believe in their abilities to cure illnesses such as cancer and other diseases. There are those that also believe that they can possess the ability to cause great harm as well if they have the correct information in order to “cast a spell” on someone. They may even come to the belief that they can tell the future of the world. If that were the case there would be many of us with crystal skulls in our bedrooms, in our cars, and walking around with one on our key chains similar to the rabbit’s foot. It does not matter whether we have the correct words to conjure up a certain spell or not it’s just the idea of what we believe in. This is usually why a person believing in something strong enough and hard enough will make the mind believe anything. We should all remember that the mind is a powerful thing and we should not take our thoughts lightly.

Work Cited:
Alltime Conspiracies.“The Mystery of The Crystal Skulls.” Youtube, 14 Feb. 2015, https://youtu.be/bUm-nIBgNMk

Richard A. Lovett and Scot Hoffman. “Crystal Skulls.” National Geographic. 2015, Accessed 22 Oct. 2018. 2 https://www.nationalgeographic.com/archaeology-and-history/archaeology/crystal-skulls/

“13 Crystal Skulls.” Crystal Skulls, 2018, Accessed 16 October 2018. 3 http://www.crystalskulls.com/13-crystal-skulls.html.

Chalgasiewicz, Rafal. The Crystal skull at the British Museum, 2009, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a7/Crystal_skull_british_museum_random9834672.jpg/798px-Crystal_skull_british_museum_random9834672.jpg

“Crystal Healing.” Crystal Skulls, 2008, Accessed 16 October 2018. http://www.crystalskulls.com/crystal-healing.html.

Pruitt, Sarah. “What are the Crystal Skulls?” History, 1 July 2015, Web. Accessed 16 October 2018.


Links for Further Research:
Crystal Skulls
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/archaeology-and-history/archaeology/crystal-skulls
This web source describes what crystal skulls are and where they come from. This website also explains how they look and last but not least how many fake skulls are produced each year.

Amazing Crystal Skulls
http://www.crystalskulls.com/index.html
This website is stacked with tone of information about the crystal and the mind-blowing powers that these skulls contain. This website has multiple many tags that you can click on that contain different information about the skulls.

Crystal Skull World Day
http://www.crystalskullworldday.com/
In this website, it contains different subtitles that talk about the powers of the skulls, the size and what they are made of, where they come from, where you can find these famous crystal skulls, etc.

Unexplainable and Non Recreatable Crystal Skulls

Sebastian Hernandez
 


red cloudy rhodochrosite skull


A century has gone by and the art of Crystal Skulls still intrigues and puzzles Scientists, Archaeologists, Museum Officials and Spiritualists. Disputes over the authenticity of these skulls have arisen and there’s so many unanswered questions, such as, who made them? when?, and how they were made? Their origins are unknown, despite that, scientists believe that Skulls were eminent in “ancient Mesoamerican artwork, particularly among the Aztec”. People believe that they were carved thousands of years ago by ancient civilizations from the region of Mexico, with the purpose of supernaturally healing and expanding psychic abilities. Coming in contact with a Skull is said to allow the Skull to “replay all events or images of the people who have come into contact with them”. Others believe that they are “a symbol of regeneration" since some gods were represented by skulls. Mictlantecuhtli was usually depicted by a skeleton since he’s the “Lord of the Land of the Dead” and in Mesoamerican art he can be seen covered in bones with red spots that represent blood, a necklace made of eyeballs, and with bone earrings hanging from his lobes.

 


Aztec god  Mictlantecuhtli in the Museo del Templo Mayor in Mexico City.

Crystal Skulls are an interpretation of human skulls, usually “made out of quartz crystal” . They vary in shape, size, weight, color and age. The age of the crystal from which the skull was made determines its age, and scientists study that because determining its place of origin or year it was carved remains unknown.

Today’s most famous Crystal Skull seems to be the rare Mitchell-Hedges Skull which was made of one single block of clear quartz crystal and its realistic characteristics make it stand out from the rest of the skulls found in museums today. The Mitchell-Hedges Skull is so unique that “today’s most talented sculptors and engineers would be unable to duplicate.” Said to have been discovered at an ancient Mayan temple by a young seventeen year old and her dad in 1927, the skull remains one of the most amusing and most studied skulls of the century. Frank Dorland, a scientist who was inclined to doing an extensive investigation on the skulls history came to many jaw dropping conclusions such as the sculpting of the skull without metal tools and the perfect alignment of the jaw. The purpose of the skull could range from being used as a toy, to the use of the skull as an oracle device. Reports of the skull changing color and making noises have been made. The Mitchell-Hedges Skull has set a bar so high that scientists have come to the conclusion that the advanced “lenses, light pipes, and prisms alone display a technical competence that the human race only achieved recently”.



The Mitchell-Hedges crystal skull


Today we see the influence of these Crystal Skulls in media like Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The movie consists of archeologist Indiana Jones, who’s in the search of the legendary skull of Akator said to give people the power to control the world. A constant theme in the discussion of skulls is the topic of power and authority. Skulls continue to be studied today and these studies are unlikely to cease anytime soon due to the numerous amount of unanswered questions. 

Works Cited
Cartwright, Mark. "Mictlantecuhtli." Ancient History Encyclopedia. Ancient History Encyclopedia, 22 Sept. 2013. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.

"Crystal Skulls - Crystalinks." Crystal Skulls - Crystalinks. Crystalinks, n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.

Lovett, Richard A. "Crystal Skulls -- National Geographic." National Geographic. National Geographic, n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.

Mictlantecuhtli. N.d. Mexico. Web. 20 Sept. 2015.

Mitchell Hedges Skull. 2014. Web. 20 Sept. 2015.

Rhodochrosite-Crystal-Skull-Sculpture. N.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.

Links for further research:
 Smithsonian Skull and Others
"Research News." British Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.
This is a research on different skulls found in history and it has lots of images of different skulls. Such as the one found in the smithsonian museum and in the british museum

Skull Facts
"The Truth Behind Crystal Skulls: Facts." National Geographic Channel. National Geographic Channel, 26 Oct. 2011. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.
This article posted on National geographic Website gives you facts on skulls and their history and making. It tells you about some examples of how skulls have influenced today’s culture.

How Crystal Skulls Work
Freeman, Shanna.  "How Crystal Skulls Work"  05 December 2007.  HowStuffWorks.com. <http://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/unexplained-phenomena/crystal-skull.htm>  20 October 2015.
This article provides an indepth explanation of how crystal skulls work when it comes to their unrealistic powers. This article also mentions some more of Frank Dorland’s research and a bit more information behind the study of the Mitchell-Hedges Skull.