Page 33 - The 'X' Chronicles Newspaper - September 2023
P. 33

The Mystery of the Crystal Skull Solved                                                                                       33






         THE MYSTERY OF THE

               CRYSTAL SKULL

                       SOLVED



               Continued from Page 32





        WHAT HAPPENED AT
        LUBAANTUN



        Perhaps the tallest tale of all is that Anna
        Mitchell-Hedges found the skull while on
        an expedition with her father to British
        Honduras (now Belize) in 1924. She said
        she could prove she was there because,
        when she returned to Lubaantun in 1989,
        some of the Mayans recognized her.
        What other proof does she have? None.
        “All my father’s papers,” she told a
        reporter in 1983, “were lost in Hatteras
        during a cyclone - photographs and all.”         is no doubt that in many cases he has block of clear quartz “rick crystal.” The
                                                         done so for the purpose of deceiving.”           lower jaw, which is detached, was made

        That doesn’t explain why none of the                                                              from the same block.
        other members of F.A. Mitchell-Hedges’s          Despite archaeologists’ warnings, newly
        Central  American expeditions ever               made crystal skulls were readily passed •               Age: It’s most likely less than a
        mentioned him finding the crystal skull,         off as ancient Mayan and Aztec in origin century old. Unfortunately, as the British
        or why none of them could verify that            even though they bore little resemblance Museum explains, “Contrary to popular
        Anna was ever there with him.  The               to real artifacts made by those cultures. belief, there are no satisfactory scientific
        existing photographs(the ones that didn’t        But most collectors didn’t know that. As techniques which can be used to
        get lost in the cyclone) don’t show a skull      far as they were concerned, they had in accurately establish when a stone object

        or Anna.                                         their     possession       an     impressive was carved.”
                                                         conversation piece that “the natives

        According to the  Skeptical Inquirer, an         believe hold magical powers.” According •               Weight: 11 pounds, 7 ounces. (A
        archaeologist named Dr. John Morris              to anthropologist Jane MacLaren Walsh, real human skull weighs about two
        went to Belize to try and retrace Anna’s         “The first generation of fakes were made pounds.)
        steps, but he “couldn’t find any of the          in Mexico… between 1856 and 1880.
        tunnels or passages she described.” So           This 24-year period may represent the •                 Dimensions:  7 inches long, 5
        why make up such a fantastical account?          output of a single artisan, or perhaps a inches wide, and 5 inches high. The skull
        Because the real origin of the crystal           single workshop.” Then European fakes is anatomically correct, but smaller than
        skull is a lot less glamourous.                  got in on the act. One of these skulls was that of an adult.
                                                         put om display at the British Museum in

        THE REAL ORIGIN                                  1898. Sometime in the 1920s or ‘30s, a •                Value: It’s difficult to come up
                                                         German jeweler - most likely in the town with a dollar amount - there isn’t really a
                                                         of Idar-Oberstein, which is known  for its going price for, as Joe Nickell described
        In      late     19th-century        Europe,
                                                         stunning quartz artworks - made a copy it, “an ancient artifact that’s not really
        Mesoamerican artifacts were all the rage.
                                                         of that skull.  The forged artifact then ancient but still has some interesting
        Wealthy adventurers - the same types
                                                         changed hands a few times before F.A. history.” F.A. Mitchell-Hedges paid
        who went on  African safaris to bring
                                                         Mitchell-Hedges purchased it in London about the equivalent of $5,000 in today’s
        home big game treasures - funded
                                                         in 1943.                                         money for it. An appraisal in the 1970s -
        expensive expeditions, where they
                                                                                                          when it was still thought to be a genuine
        basically pilfered sacred sites for trinkets
                                                         CRYSTAL CLEAR                                    ancient Mayan artifact - valued it at
        and artifacts that they sold for a tidy
                                                                                                          $500,000. But after  Anna Mitchell-
        profit to museums and collectors. It was
        such a booming business that Mexican -           Just because the crystal skull isn’t a           Hedges died in 2007, the skull was
        and later European - jewelers started            magical object brought to  Atlantis by           appraised for a paltry $3,000. If it were to
        making and selling fake ancient artifacts.       aliens doesn’t mean it’s not an amazing          actually go on the auction block, its status
        Even then, these fakes riled science-            piece of craftsmanship. Even skeptics            as  the most famous crystal skull in the
        minded archaeologists such as the                marvel at it.                                    world would spark a competitive bidding
                                                                                                          war, but another auction doesn’t seem to
        Smithsonian’s  William Henry Holmes,
        who wrote as early as 1886 that it is easy       Here are some of its stats:                      be the fate of this crystal skull.
        for “a native artisan to imitate any of the
        older forms of ware [ceramics]; and there        •      Material: The Mitchell-Hedges                                (Continued on Page 34)
                                                         crystal skull was made from a single
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