I know the crystal skulls have been discussed here before,but after seeing a program on the 'Sci Fi'channel last week I am tempted to delve into it here on ATS.I will go into the skulls mythology and their possible 2012 implications.

First the crystal skulls:

One of archaeology's most compelling mysteries is that of the 13 Crystal Skulls. Skulls have been one of the most powerful objects of symbolism in human history, all over the world. Several "perfect" crystal Skulls have been found in parts of Mexico, Central and South America. Together, they form a mystery as enigmatic as the Nazca Lines, the Great Pyramids and Stonehenge.

These skulls are believed to be between 5000 and 35000 years old. During early expeditions, archaeologists were told by locals that the skulls possessed magical powers and healing properties. However, people were unsure as to where they came from, or even why they existed. Some like to believe that these were remains from the lost civilization of Atlantis. Others like to believe these are fakes. And yet another group of psychics believe that these skulls have the capability to enable us to look into the past, present and future.

Historians and social anthropologists decided to find out more about the strange skulls. Very soon, they came across an ancient Indian legend saying that there had been thirteen crystal skulls of the Goddess of Death; they had been kept separately from each other under the strict control of pagan priests and special warriors.

Searches for more skulls started; some of them were found in museums and some in private collections not only in the USA, but in Mexico, Brazil, France, Mongolia, and in Tibet. There were more than 13 skulls found. However, not all of them were as perfect as Mitchell-Hedges- was. Very likely, those were just later attempts to create something similar to the original skulls that were believed to have been gifts by God to the people.

The very construction and make of the skulls defies common logic. There are several crystal skulls in existence today around the world. We start off with the most famous one: The Mitchell-Hedges Skull.

As the story goes, the skull was first discovered by the expedition headed by famous English archeologist F. Albert Mitchell-Hedges in Central America in 1927. Before that, the archeologist started clearing an ancient Maya settlement in a damp tropical jungle in Yucatan (British Honduras at that time and currently Belize) in 1924. It was decided to burn down 33 hectares of forest covering the ancient constructions of the settlement to make the archeological dig easier. When the smoke lifted, the expedition saw amazing ruins of a stone pyramid, city walls, and a huge amphitheatre capable to seating thousands of spectators. The ancient settlement was called Lubaantun: The Place of the Fallen Stones.

After three years, Mitchell-Hedges organized another expedition; he took his daughter Anna with him, but, at that moment, the archeologist hardly supposed that the girl would be a lucky talisman for the expedition. On the day of her 17th birthday, in April 1927, Anna discovered a strange item under the debris of an ancient altar. That was a natural sized human skull made of a rock crystal and wonderfully polished. The skull lacked its lower jaw, which was found dozens meters from the site three months later. The crystal details could be moved with the help of perfect, smooth joints on the skull and easily moved with every touch. Those who touched the skull experienced rather strange feelings.

It now appears that this tale of the skull's discovery was entirely fabricated. Mitchell-Hedges apparently purchased the skull at an auction at Sothebys in London, in 1943. This has been verified by documents at the British Museum, which had bid against Mitchell-Hedges for the crystal artifact, but the origin of which is attributed to Central America. The skull remains in the possession of the octogenarian Anna Mitchell-Hedges. She resides in Canada and displays the skull on frequent tours. Anna has maintained for all these years that she discovered the skull, even though there is reason to doubt that she was present at the Lubaatun expedition at all.

Continuing, Anna was the first to experience strange things. The girl put the skull near her bed before going to sleep. Anna said that she dreamed of the life of Indians who had lived thousands years ago, and the girl could describe the dream in detail.

At first, Anna didn'tt attribute the strange dream to the crystal skull. However, strange dreams haunted the girl each time she had the skull near her bed. New dreams brought more new details about the life of Indians, details unknown even to scientists. When the skull was removed from the bedroom, there were no strange dreams. And they recommenced as soon as the strange find was taken back to Anna's room. The girl heard Indians talking and watched their everyday life and sacrifice rituals.

After the death of her father, at the beginning of the 1960s, Anna decided to give the strange skull to scientists for investigations. She believed that the skull was too perfect to have been made by the Indian civilizations living before the Columbus discoveries.

First, art critic Frank Dordland started investigating the strange skull. After a closer investigation, he discovered that the skull had a complicated system of lenses, prisms, and channels, creating unusual optical effects. The investigator was surprised to discover no signs of processing on the skull's perfectly polished surface. They couldn't be seen even with a microscope. Frank Dordland even addressed Hewlett-Packard, the famous company that specialized in crystal oscillators at that time, for a competent examination of the crystal.

The results were shocking not only for the scientist himself. The research by Hewlett-Packard in 1964 in a special laboratory revealed that the skull had been made long before the first civilizations appeared in that part of America where the skull was found. In addition, rock crystal of such perfect quality couldn'tt be found in that area. The most amazing thing was that the ancient skull weighing 5.13 kg, 203.4 mm long and 125.4 wide had been made of a whole crystal. This fact contradicted the laws of physics.

Hewlett-Packard experts analyzed the skull and discovered that it consisted of three or four joints grown together. After close analysis, they found out that the skull had been cut of one piece of crystal, together with the lower jaw. The rock crystal has a hardness that is slightly lower than that of topaz, corundum, and diamond; it can be cut with diamonds only. It is astonishing, but the ancient Indians managed to cut it somehow, and even made a lower jaw with the joints. Someone had made the skull of a whole crystal so carefully that it seemed that nobody had ever touched it. A kind of a prism was found at the back bottom of the skull; any ray of light that strikes the eye-sockets is reflected there. If you look into the eye-sockets, you may see the whole room reflected.

Hewlett-Packard experts say that the skull had been made regardless of all laws and rules. They surprisingly said: "The damned thing can't exist at all. Those who had done it had no idea of crystallography or of fiber optics. The people completely ignored the axis of symmetry, which was to prevent the crystal from splitting during processing. It is strange why it didn't split at that!" No matter how unbelievable it may seem, the strange crystal skull can be seen in the Museum of American Indians.

Researchers found that the skull had been carved against the natural axis of the crystal. Modern crystal sculptors always take into account the axis, or orientation of the crystal's molecular symmetry, because if they carve "against the grain," the piece is bound to shatter -- even with the use of lasers and other high-tech cutting methods......

Very interesting post. I remember seeing pictures of thses skulls as a child. I didn't know there were more than one, let alone 13.

Sceptics will obviously look to technology to explain how these skulls were fabricated, but what about the technology needed to create such well proportioned features.

I look forward to reading what other ATSers will have to offer to this subject. I will also see what information my Mexican contacts may have regarding crystal skulls

-Cuauhtemoc

Now 2012-As you all probably know December 21st,2012 is when the Mayan calender ends,and when many believe the end of the world "as we know it"will happen.Supposibly when and only when ALL thirteen skulls are found and placed correctly in a circle in some temple,then they will be able to prevent the coming catastrophe of 2012,according to some.


Others think they will facilitate a "new age"of existence ad bring us all the answers of the universe.It is said in some of the skulls you can see UFOs,Mayan priest,and alien beings.


Some say the skulls were made in Atlantis and given to cultures all over the world.Others claim they are made by extraterrestrials to enlighten mankind,or to save us.


I don't know what I believe,but the way the were made,as you read were beyond capabilities of the day-unless they took 300 years to make them!Maye the "Alantian-ET"connection comes into play here,as many believe that Atlantis was infact a super advanced ET race that lived on Earth many thousands of years ago.I can't answer these questions by myself,so maybe you all on ATS can help,Im anxious to hear some theories.,thanks.

Hey,thanks for stopping by,always good to have your input here at ATS.I remember something on the 'Sci Fi'program about how they tested on of the skulls(The British one)and when they touched it raised narly 30 degrees in temperature!Good question about other test on them,I will go look now for some information on it.

Just because they have the precision that can only be attained from modern methods DOES NOT mean they were created in the 20th Century, it may well be a good argument, but to say that is the only answer is, ignorant. I agrre that it could've been made in the 20th Century, a forgery, but it also could've been made by the Mayans over 300 years, or by the Mayans in a day, big factory churning them out, mass production!!

but seriously, if every time something amazing comes to light and everyone automatically assumes that because there is no proof that ancient civilizations had this type of technology, it must be a modern forgery, howare we ever going to learn anything, your comments are no more damaging than our comments, accept we are putting ideas out into the world, for people to decide for themselves, you are trying to bash most of the answers until people have no choice but to agree with you.

Anyway, 13 skulls? why 13 (12 around 1)? why quartz (conduction)? Different coloured lights effect them differently? I'm still pondering the possibility of some sort of holographic intelligence, crazy idea, but worth thinking about.

thanks. EMM

Originally posted by ElectroMagnetic Multivers
Just because they have the precision that can only be attained from modern methods DOES NOT mean they were created in the 20th Century, it may well be a good argument, but to say that is the only answer is, ignorant. I agrre that it could've been made in the 20th Century, a forgery, but it also could've been made by the Mayans over 300 years, or by the Mayans in a day, big factory churning them out, mass production!!

They did have the precision to make great stuff- you've misread my post, because i said earlier that the Mayans/Aztecs were capable of making much better stuff with than these skulls. The skulls are actually very unskillfully made, people assume that if it looks primitively made (like the skulls) then it must be ancient, but this really isn't the case.
These are unskillfully made skulls made with modern technology and materials.

Originally posted by ElectroMagnetic Multiversbut seriously, if every time something amazing comes to light and everyone automatically assumes that because there is no proof that ancient civilizations had this type of technology, it must be a modern forgery, howare we ever going to learn anything, your comments are no more damaging than our comments, accept we are putting ideas out into the world, for people to decide for themselves, you are trying to bash most of the answers until people have no choice but to agree with you.

But if you research these skulls properly, you'll find that that people didn't automatically assume they were fakes (if as you say people automatically assumed they were fakes, then why did some end up in museums? People obviously gave these skulls some credit amongst the hype of their discovery at first).
People didn't always assume they were fakes, but there has always been a lot of doubt over their origin- they have never being pinned to any archaeological sites (which means that we can't say for sure whether they are even Mayan/Aztec if they are real, nor can we date them or find much about the society they were made in etc), they just mysteriously appeared out of the dodgey backstreet artifacts market in the mid to late 20th century, and the only information we have to go by on them is people's word.
Not only that, but most of them suspiciously appeared during a time when there was a revival in the interest of crystal stuff like this.

So basically we have some crystal skulls which;
a. Were made with modern methods
b. Have synthetic materials on them only created in the 20th century.
c. We don't know for certain (if at all) which archaeological sites they came from, so thus;
d. We don't even know for sure if they are Mayan/Aztec
e. We don't know how old they are
f. No skulls have ever been found since these mass of skulls, nor have any ever been found by a qualified trustworthy archaeologist etc
g. They all mysteriously appeared in the 20th century when there was a great revival/interest and demand for such artifacts.
h. Numerous methods were used to date these skulls, and these methods have always proved accurate- if you doubt the results these methods gave on the skulls, then you essentially doubt some of the primary dating methods for all such artifacts.


I'm not bashing anyone here, and i think you don't have any right to call my posts damaging when i am the only one here displaying hard core facts about these skulls and questioning their authenticity- if you want a well-balanced thread, then you have to accept that not everyone will agree with you etc. Now i think you are an intelligent person, but i can't honestly see how someone would so avidly believe in such skulls being real when there is a heck of a lot of serious evidence against them being real and nothing actually very reliable in favor of them being real? Do you actually have any solidly reliable evidence that favors these skulls being real at all?

Hmm well i fail to see how some hand-made video posted on Youtube of all places constitutes as evidence etc (if that is your intention). Zysin5 how do you feel about the recent news of these skulls being proven by experts and scientists alike as fake?

Originally posted by ElectroMagnetic Multivers
Just because they have the precision that can only be attained from modern methods DOES NOT mean they were created in the 20th Century...
but seriously, if every time something amazing comes to light and everyone automatically assumes that because there is no proof that ancient civilizations had this type of technology, it must be a modern forgery, howare we ever going to learn anything, your comments are no more damaging than our comments, accept we are putting ideas out into the world, for people to decide for themselves, you are trying to bash most of the answers until people have no choice but to agree with you.

The FACT here, is that NONE of these crystal skulls including the ever so popular Mitchell-Hedges skull have ever been shown to have evidence to have come anywhere from Mayan or Aztec origins, it is not the issue of whether or not the civilizations had the technology. The Mayan's don't even have any mention of crystal skulls in anything that has to do with them, nor do the Aztecs. In fact, any connection to either tribe is purely speculation, regardless of whether you want to believe they hold some special power or not. I hardly think he was "bashing" your ideas, rather than simply introducing a new viewpoint. If you're going to consider the possibility that the skulls could be real, you have to be ready to accept the possibility that it may be fake just the same. Not EVERYTHING is a conspiracy. I myself am under the opinion that the skulls are nothing more than pure legend based on my own research into the subject because:

A) they surfaced late nineteenth century during a peak in the worlds interest of mezoamerican artifacts.

B)These skulls have no properties different from any other piece of quartz crystal. Not a nan nutter single one.

C) These skulls have in fact been tested...(this is a fact, not my opinion) and they have been shown to have been created with modern tools during modern times.

D) Their validity is denied by any organization of great importance. This would be a point against my argument of their authenticity IF the organizations in question had something to gain by denying the authenticity. However, many of the organizations (including the Smithsonian) would have nothing to gain by denying that they are indeed pre-columbian artifacts. In fact, they could gain ALOT by lying about it and saying they are real. But they don't. And that says alot in itself.

Now, I'm not trying to rain on anyones parade. Just present facts. If you still would like to believe they hold some supernatural power, then so be it. I'm just not convinced.

Originally posted by Mad_Hatter


The FACT here, is that NONE of these crystal skulls including the ever so popular Mitchell-Hedges skull have ever been shown to have evidence to have come anywhere from Mayan or Aztec origins, it is not the issue of whether or not the civilizations had the technology.

With all due respect Mad_Hatter. Could you provide some source links to your ideas. All I see is your own words.
IF you could.. Please back up your facts with links, and sources.

If they are facts, then you must have learned these facts from a book, or somewhere on the web. I would be happy to check out your FACTS. And sources.. As it stands you are presenting Facts in your own writting and your own words.. That does not = fact, because you said so.
Lets see those sources
And then we can go from there.

Many thanks.

And personally I dont think they hold any super powers. They are a metaphore to who we are as human beings.
The power has been within our skulls the whole time.
I belive these crystal skulls are a metaphore to the idea that our minds hold the supernatural powers. And not external articats.

And yes as much as I would love to belive in all that, I know in my heart they are metaphores to the wonder of what the human skull holds within its chambers!
The mind is a very BIG place, contained in a very small space!- Carl Sagan.

[edit on 27-5-2008 by zysin5]