Legend of the Crystal Skulls
Remnant of Atlantis ?
Few artefacts have aroused such lively discussions as what is commonly called “crystal skulls”: rock crystal carved skulls or quartz face masks. For decades, esoteric scientists and theoreticians have elaborated the most diverse speculations about them and published a number of "research" accounts.
A crystal skull as a birthday present
In 1927, 17-year-old researcher Anna Mitchell-Hedges and her father discovered an unusual rock crystal object at the Lubaantum site in Belize near an altar. They did not immediately recognize the shape of a skull, because the lower jaw was missing. It was discovered only three months later, a few meters away. Very quickly, archaeologists understood the exceptional nature of this discovery. Indeed, if rock crystal is fairly widespread in nature, its carving however, because of the hardness of the material and its structure, requires a very special technique and tools, especially to achieve a realistic reproduction as it is the case for the crystal skull of Lubaantum.
Soon, however, some scientists were skeptical about this discovery in which they saw only a simple staging. Indeed, since the day of the discovery coincided with the birthday of young Anna, her father, the archaeologist Frederick A. Mitchell-Hedges, was suspected to have previously buried the artifact near the altar to offer it as a birthday present to his daughter.
For these skeptics, the crystal skull would have been made quite recently using modern machines. In fact, a recent study seems to confirm this assumption, since it has been possible to detect, under an electron microscope, traces of modern tools. However, it should be noted that this skull is not a single piece and that other similar crystal skulls have been discovered later, all made with the same meticulousness.
Original or false? And if it was a remnant of Atlantis?
For incomprehensible reasons, only the authenticity of the first crystal skull is questioned. For many researchers, indeed, this piece is a recent era fake, probably made in Europe. For some esoteric groups, this object would, on the other hand, be a remnant of Atlantis and it would have been transmitted by the inhabitants of this continent to the Mayans. By dating the crystal skull of 3,600 years old, a time when the Mayan civilization had not yet appeared, Anna Mitchell-Hedges put this piece in touch with prehistoric knowledge or rites. This dating results from the study of the layers of earth in which the skull was discovered and whose age can be determined by geology. Since rock crystal is not an organic material, it is impossible to use other dating methods.
For other archaeologists, this object is an authentic piece, but only dates from 1,500 years ago, or even from the fifteenth century. However, no matter how old this crystal skull is, there is no way to explain how it was made. In Europe, it is indeed necessary to wait until the 17th century at the earliest to theoretically conceive such an object. Moreover, even at this time, such an achievement was not always possible for lack of necessary tools.
As of today, it is impossible to tell where this crystal skull might've come from and what people should it be attributed to.
The work of crystal
The carving of rock crystal is a very delicate work because crystal is a very fragile material. Indeed, if one does not respect its structure, it can break or fragment. A crack can spread inside the crystal and cause new cracks.
The structure of rock crystal can only be recognized by means of a magnifying glass through the phenomenon of refraction of light.
