A crystal skull revered by New Age followers for its perceived ancient mystical powers is likely to be a fake, an academic said today. The almost life-sized skull, which was sold to London's British Museum in 1897, was thought to have been a relic from the Aztec civilisation in Mexico.However, research by a British professor has added weight to the theory that it was probably made in 19th century Europe from a lump of poor quality Brazilian crystal.Professor Ian Freestone, of the University of Wales in Cardiff, examined the skull and now believes it was cut and polished with a wheeled instrument. The Aztecs never used the wheel.Furthermore, the type of crystal used is common in Brazil but has never been found in Mexico.And the surface of the skull, which contains tiny bubbles that glint in the light, is more sharply defined than softer looking Aztec crystal relics with which it has been compared.Prof Freestone, formerly head of scientific research at the British Museum, led a team from the museum who took casts of the surface using dental resin which were then examined close-up using a scanning electron microscope.He said: "It does appear that in some areas of the skull they have used a rotary tool and as far as we know that sort of technique was only introduced after the Europeans came to the Americas, so it's post-Columbus.

"We know this from looking at other south and central American objects and evidence from Spanish priests. When they first came to the Americas they showed the traditional way of working stone."However, Prof Freestone said that despite the strong circumstantial evidence suggesting the skull was 19th century European in origin, it does not amount to cast-iron proof.

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In the Atlantean civilization those types of crystal skulls were very common; they were placed inside certain special surgical-devices that were utilized by Atlantean-Mayan Sages for brain transplants and in order not to sever the energetic thread that unites the mental body to the brain!

Never did believe in them crystal skull thingamabopers. This just backs up skeptic view of them...

Really? Do you have any evidence to support this claim?

Oh Dear...AztecInca will be very unhappy about this!
still...it would look cool on a mantlepeace!

It's kinda sad, people trying to make their money off fabricating ancient cultures' artifacts

You carry the evidence on that plate!


Although it is not like this one!

Aztec? I thought it was mayan?

Indeed, I am not happy about this at all!

my theory of the aztec find is that is a facile and a fake
my reasons for this theory is the fact that when the army of spain
arrived they swept in and a two day battle took place spain took it easily since they were armded with guns and ships and were trained in combat they burned the homes and villages and killed many people the face is it could be and could,nt be but my view is that is in fact a fake it could be of another tribe in the area or not even of a tribe it could be from people who have passed though that land and lost items in their keeping.
david [COLOR=red]

Same here.

whateva they were trying to be they were faked to make money....
sum have been on ebay i think...

I'm now in Belize and have visited the ancient Mayan ceremonial center of Lubantun several times. This is where a crystal skull allegedly was found during the 1920s. The caretaker, Santiago, has been at the site since helping Norman Hammond excavate several years ago. He casts doubt on the authenticity of the story. The jury is still out.
Michael Sullivan

Always wondered how them skull thingies were made. Glad to know they were a hoax.

I think the crystal skulls are being confused. The skull in question is the one sold to the British Museum, the "best" skull or the skull of the best quality is the Anna Mitchell-Hedges Skull and it is still in Toronto last time I checked.




Left - British Museum Skull

Right - Mitchell-Hedges Skull

Do you see a difference, I see a difference. The M-H Skull also has a detachable jawbone.

So how proving, what looks like to me to be, a cheap piece of sh!t is a fake also proves another of better quality is a fake is beyond me.

The article also claims that, "The Aztecs never used the wheel.", which is misleading. They may have not used the wheel for transportation purposes but to assume that that means that they hadn't invented the wheel is wrong.

"The French explorer, Desire Charnay, explored an Indian cemetery in Popocatepetl, Mexico, in 1880 and found a toy animal so constructed that the four discs found with the dog or coyote fit perfectly as wheels."



So they didn't have the wheel but they made toys with wheels?

Edit: Resized picture.