The Amazing Crystal Skulls
Of Ancient America

The amount of speculation about these unusual artifacts is at an all time fever pitch.  Especially with the new Indiana Jones Crystal Skull movie coming in 2008.  People all around the globe fantasize about these crystal objects carved to resemble human skulls, or in some cases human-like skulls.  Many claim to own authentic original crystal skulls, with fantastic pseudo-science research to back up their reported origins and age.  Some claim they are artifacts from extraterrestrial civilizations. 

Scholars from many countries have examined them (myself included), and arrived at a wildly mixed set of theories and dating results.  Some have claimed they are all hoaxes, some are hoaxes, that they are thousands of years old, or are contemporary.

Yet the undeniable fact remains that they exist.  That at least two have significantly important origins.  And that there is no consensus on their age.

I myself was fortunate to be able to examine both major skulls some years ago, and arrived at conclusions that fit the available facts.  Unfortunately, spectrographic and chemical analysis is lacking on them both.  Yet, in fact, they both raise more questions than are answered.

There have been many human skulls that have been carved and polished out of a of crystal of quartz rock. The two skulls in question on this page have been carved from a unique type of quartz and are of life-size (approximately the size of an average adult human skull).

Skulls are an immediately recognizable symbol of death, both in modern times, and in the pre-columbian eras as well.  To believe the stories online, supposedly thirteen crystal skulls of apparently ancient origin have been found in parts of Mexico, Central America and South America.  However, absolutely NONE have any proof of context, and in my opinion all but two have clear modern tool marks.  Thus, all but two have to be treated as fakes.

This page is devoted to the main two Crystal Skulls.  These are the "Mitchell-Hedges" skull and a skull owned by the British Museum in London.

The two Skulls are not identical, though they show dramatic similarities in craft and design.  While there is much debate on this issue, there appears to be evidence that both skulls originated from the same artisan or clan of artisans, while other skulls originated with a French craftsman.

The British Museum Skull
(The BM Skull)

The British Museum's skull was part of the exhibit at the The Museum of Mankind in London for many years, which is where I was able to examine it. The BM skull appears incorrectly labeled as of Aztec origin.  While the Nahuatl speaking peoples of Mexico's Tenochtitlan were keen devotees of skulls in any form.  This was, after all, just guesswork on the part of the museum staff in setting up the display.

According to available sources, The British Museum obtained the skull from the New York jeweler Tiffany's i the early 1930's.  There is a tale that Tiffany's obtained it from a sailor of fortune's wife in 1929, who's husband brought it back from Cocos Island, an island belonging to Costa Rica, many years earlier.  There is an obscure reference to this sailor's visit to the island in his writings, and a reference to more of the same - though clearly this is not the original home of the skull, but if this story is true, it would have been deposited on the island by local pirates (most likely Morgan - for which there is ample proof - you though Johnny Depp's pirates having pre-columbian artifacts is just a Disney story?).  Though there is another story that it was brought out of Mexico in the 1890's.

There are other rumors that it was part of a collection amassed by a mysterious soldier of fortune in Mexico, however, I believe this to be confusion, since there is evidence of a crystal skull being "pawned" to the jeweler in question.

More recent claim, is that examinations of the BM skull seem to indicate that the tools used to make it are most likely more modern than originally thought (see page 4), placing the age of the skull at a century and a half at the most.  However, having been able to view the BM skull myself, I can not dispute such claims.  But now we know for a fact that the skulls are of modern origin.  And yes, these skulls were made by humans - no need for extraterrestrial origins.

However, the skull is so strangely hypnotic that there is a story that the cleaning staff at the museum at least one time insisted that the object be covered with a black cloth before they worked around it at night.

The Mitchell-Hedges Skull (The BH Skull)

The Mitchell-Hedges skull (top photo) has an even more confused history than the British Museum Skull.  F.A. Mitchell-Hedges was a self-proclaimed British adventurer during the early twentieth century. He told stories about how he gambled with J.P. Morgan, roomed with Leon Trotsky and fought with Pancho Villa.  Some or all of these appear to be tall tales.  However, tall tales have there basis in reality, as this author can attest.

How the skull came into Mitchell-Hedges possession is a question of debate. We know that Mitchell-Hedges was in possession of it by 1944. That year a member of the staff of the British Museum had bid on the skull at an auction and made this note:  "Bid at Sotheby's sale, lot 54, 15 x 43 up to 340 pounds (Fairfax). Brought in by Burney. Sold subsequently by Mr. Burney at auction at Sotheby's in London, in 1943 to Mr. Mitchell-Hedges for 400 pounds".   This was a fortune in the day.

It is said, that Mr. Mitchell-Hedges had always indicated that he had found the skull in an Mayan temple in British Honduras (now Belize), though he seemed never to reveal the details, writing: "How it came into my possession I have reason for not revealing."   Would it surprise you to know that Tiffany's may have acquired both skulls?  And later sold one to Mitchell-Hedges?  Some researchers believe the story about finding the skull in British Honduras was just another tall tale and Mitchell-Hedges obtained it through an art dealer.  However, the same sailor of fortune, may be the source for both skulls.

Mitchell-Hedges' adopted daughter, Anna Mitchell-Hedges, who inherited the skull when he died, supported her father's story. She explained her father "placed the skull with Burney, the art dealer, as collateral for a loan. When he realized Burney was trying to sell the skull, he bought it back".  Anna Mitchell-Hedges also claimed that it was she who discovered the skull on her 17th birthday while with her father in British Honduras. She claims she found the skull, missing the jaw, under an alter. Three months later she found the jaw in the same room. Very improbable.  However, there were never any other similar crystal artifacts found at that site, or in other sites in the immediate region.  Thus to have found the singular BH Skull there would have almost been the equivalent of finding a Volkswagen under the alter!

The BM Skull, clearly an unusual stone, is reported weigh 11 lb, 7 oz (5.19kg) and is carved from a single quartz rock crystal (as is the BM Skull). While crystals of this size and clarity are not very common, they have been found weighing tons.  Mr. Mitchell-Hedges often referred to it as the "Skull of Doom." (a useful marketing ploy.) The separate jaw most likely would have been affixed by either gold wire or woven twine, possibly allowing movement. There has been fanciful speculation that the skull was used as an oracle, the jaw operating by remote control as a voice came from a hidden speaker tube, but there is absolutely no evidence to support this.

A Dr. Morant was able to examine both skulls: the Mitchell-Hedges skull and the skull at the Museum of Mankind together in 1936. He noted the skulls were very similar in many anatomical details and suggested that the one in the museum might be a slightly rougher copy of the Mitchell-Hedges skull.  This is confirmed by my own findings decades ago.

The Mitchell-Hedges skull is made of clear quartz crystal, and both cranium and mandible are believed to have come from the same solid block. It weighs 11.7 pounds and is about five inches high, five inches wide, and seven inches long. Except for slight anomalies in the temples and cheekbones, it is a virtually anatomically correct replica of a human skull. Because of its small size and other characteristics, it is thought more closely to resemble a female skull -- and this has led some to refer to the Mitchell-Hedges skull as a "she."