Within many of the world’s greatest museums, there may be an exhibit that makes you question its significance. I readily admit that this effect is common to so many other exhibits. But this one is at first sight, bizarre. I am referring to the collection of what are called crystal skulls. They look as their name suggests; a skull made of crystalline material.
But the question is, who made them, when were they made and for what reason? The original consensus was that they were the work of Mesoamericans. These would include the Mayans and Aztecs. Both of these civilisations had associations with human skulls. So, we were looking at objects fashioned hundreds of years ago. However, as I said, this was the original consensus.
Other parties believed them to be thousands, if not, tens of thousands of years old. A few even suggested they were fashioned in Atlantis. Such stories have attracted the attention of New Age advocates, some of whom have said it proves we have been visited by aliens in the distant past. I should not have to tell you that I find these theories too tenuous to be taken seriously. Although they are all under one tile, crystal skulls can come in two types; either clear or cloudy and their actual make-up is rock-crystal.
Two crystal skulls are kept by the British Museum in London and the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC. The British Museum had attempted to date their skull on several occasions beginning in 1950 but with no definite answer. Then in 1996, a detailed analysis was made on the skull and a similar one occurred in Washington.
This time, there was a giveaway clue. Microscopic marks on the skull made by the tools indicated they were made by jewel-cutting tools which the Mayans and Aztecs definitely did not possess. The British Museum decided that based on this new evidence their crystal skull should be described as old instead of ancient. It is now thought they were created in the nineteenth century to satisfy the interest in ancient artefacts.
John Pullen 