The Crystal Skulls

When I reported on the story of the crystal skulls being fakes the other day, it occurred to me that I was not very well-versed in the whole crystal skulls legend.

Now, you have to realize that I have been reading books on the paranormal since I was a little, little kid. I was found to have a collegiate-level reading comprehension in the 3^rd-grade and I have always weighed-in at a cool 98-lbs., so reading was something I truly enjoyed. And reading about ghosts, unexplained phenomena, and the Loch Ness Monster (in particular) always tickled my fancy.

As I got older, I became more serious about "researching" these subjects. By the 5^th-grade, I was reading full-length, scientific books and diatribes on these things and making notes. I still have newspaper clippings of sightings from Loch Ness and the like, going all the way back to the 1980s. As an adult, I had amassed a small collection of books relating to these fields and knew most of the stories and accounts more or less by heart.

Of course I had heard of these crystal skulls, but in reading the piece and reporting on it, I realized I really didn't know the story. And that perplexed me; how could I not, if they were such an important part of the paranormal canon?

So a little bit ago, I pulled most every major source I have - many of which are not even listed as Sources for The OddBlog because of their dubious content (no matter how earnest the writer may have been) - and figured out... none of them even mention the crystal skulls!

And, I mean, here's chapter after chapter on the Aztecs, Mayans, Lake Titicaca - from mentions of spacemen and alien visitors to the truly bizarre (marine aliens, ancient heart transplants, etc.) - the Nazsca Lines... no crystal skulls.

While the mainstream scientists and media will often lead you to think we, as a community, will just lap-up any old wives' tale as "evidence of something," it just isn't true. The real truth is that intrepid paranormal researchers have often done a very good job of separating the wheat from the chaff and these crystal skulls, no matter how well they fooled the so-called "experts," didn't pass the muster.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008

Indy's Wild Goose Chase

According to several researchers, the crystal skulls which have been at the center of many books and movies since the 1960s (including the new Indiana Jones movie) are fakes, most likely manufactured in the past several decades.

Many point the finger at 19^th-Century French antiques dealer, Eugene Boban. According to documents, Boban sold at least two of the dozen or so crystal skulls that have surfaced and analyzers believe those he handled may have been created within a decade of the time he purchased them - some suggest he may have requisitioned workers to have them made.

Most of the skulls only recently began surfacing - specifically in the 1960s, when New Age Mysticism was at a cultural peak. While research has yet to identify where the quartz used in the works was quarried, possibilities include Madagascar, Brazil - and the Alps. However, those working on the skulls say they have determined that abrasives and rotary wheel technology - both 20^th-Century innovations unavailable to ancient peoples. While two of the skulls predate this time period, this research indicates none of them known to exist were fashioned by ancient cultures, such as the Mayans and Aztecs, the forerunners of those previously thought to have created the crystal skulls.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008