There are at least thirteen crystal skulls, all of which have been discovered in Mexico, Central America and South America. All of these skulls are beautiful to look at and are thought to have mystical powers. The are all believed to be of ancient origin with an age range from 5,000 to 36,000 years. These skulls, all of which were found near Mayan and Aztec sites have become one of the greatest mysteries of the archaeological world during the 20th Century and now into the 21st Century. There are many crystal skull legends, and one of the most famous is that of the Mitchell-Hedges skull.
F A Mitchell-Hedges was a British explorer who was on an expedition to discover Atlantis in 1924 when he claimed his daughter Anna found a crystal skull. He furnished the world with an elaborate tale regarding the find and how he came to bring the skull home with him rather than leaving it for the Mayan people. However, his story was disputed when the British Museum proved that they had been bidders for the skull in a Sotherby's auction - the same auction where Mitchell-Hedges had been the highest bidder! This does not however, help us locate the origins of the skull. It has is elaborated detailed and technically very similar to an actual human skull and has been produced in a way that even today would be very difficult. There is, at the very least, a tremendous amount of respect for the manufacturer of the piece and still a mystery as to the technique and tools used.
It would not be possible to talk of the crystal skull legends without the mention of the name Eugene Boban. Boban was a Frenchman who worked closely with the Mexican court of Maximillian as an archaeologist. It would seem that several crystal skulls passed through his hands. One of these ended up in the Trocadero (precursor of the Musee de l'Homme) and another found its way via Tiffany's in New York to the British Museum. These two skulls are very similar. They are now both believed to have been fabricated in the 19th Century and have no connection with ancient Mayan civilisation. The only link between them and Mexico is probably Boban.
There are claims that even the Mitchell-Hedges skull is a relatively modern piece and some consider it to be a copy of the British Museum skull. This, however, does not clear up the question of how these skulls were produced and in some ways only adds to the crystal skull legends and mysteries.
Some skulls are still displayed in museums as ancient Mayan artifacts. Some, such as the British Museum, have the skulls displayed but make no claims as to their authenticity, in fact openly list them as fake. The mystery of the crystal skull legends may never be cleared up. There are so many skulls, so many legends and so many people with passionate beliefs about the skulls that it would seem the truth about them all will never surface. It may be that Boban went to his grave knowing more than most and possibly died in the knowledge that he had caused quite a stir in the world of archaeology.
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