What was the crystal skull made of

In fact, it got a boost in with the release of the action-adventure sequel Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

All rights reserved. Supernatural Fascination Stories about the skulls focus heavily on their perceived supernatural powers. Share Tweet Email. Read This Next Wild parakeets have taken a liking to London.

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Animals Wild Cities Morocco has 3 million stray dogs. Meet the people trying to help. Animals Whales eat three times more than previously thought. Sarah E March 13, AM. Hi Dudley, Thanks. You are absolutely correct. We will change "Aztec" in the caption to "pre-Columbian".

The Mixtec and Aztec used similar tools and were in close contact, which is why the researchers used the goblet as a reference. Michael March 12, PM. I think it was fairly probable that the majority of the skulls are fake.

However, this does not prove that the Mitchell Hedges skull is so. Firstly it was found in , secondly it is miles apart in quality from the others. I do not buy for a second that this one is fake. To label this as "Crystal skulls deemed fake" is misleading and untrue. You should have said, "SOME". Swolfmoon March 13, AM. Yes, absolutely. I can't stand it when "journalists" sensationalize a story with a title that will grab someone's attention Misleading and untrue are serious understatements.

KatS March 13, AM. Actually Michael the MH skull has been studied and proven fake as well. Even the lady who supposedly found the skull as a young girl has had her story questioned. It seems she was not on the dig at which she says she found the skull.

There is some incredible pre-columbian crystal work, the skulls as far as we know just ain't them. MikeA March 13, PM. Just listen June 5, PM. The Smithsonian is such an unreliable source. What about the giant skulls that "never existed" now they admit to destroying giant skulls and bones.

Yet no one hears about this. Lets be sheeple and believe the goverment that has been caught in lies from testing on humans, Watergate, The entire Vietnam War, etc. Ramona June 19, PM. I agree, and I believe that the Smithsonian is not known for telling the truth about anything. Truth September 16, AM. Jasmin August 1, AM. Jasmin August 4, AM. I was referring to Michael's statement. The MH skull is not a fake, studies and tests administered by many have shown that.

Hewlett Packard the computer company have administered some of these tests. The skull was carved by hand, because modern machinery would have shattered the piece. Remember that it is made from crystal, which is only slightly softer than diamond. Using modern carving tools would have shattered the skull because of the vibrations produced.

Carving from a substance this solid and brittle would have taken at least years. Joe November 28, PM. Slightly softer than diamond!?!? Diamond is the hardest known substance to mankind. The comparison between crystal and diamond to its softness is laughable. Amber Sebren June 20, PM. A replica has been made in China by modern tools.

It not only can be replicated, it has been replicated. What tends to be forgotten about these skulls whether or not they're fake's that almost from the moment they began to be 'discovered' various parties've attempted to prove they were products of 'incredible' secret techniques supposedly known only to the ancients or merely modern fakes by subjecting their surfaces to all manner of tools and processes some of which inevitably left traces of their own. The Brazilian iron chlorite inclusions I suggest's a red herring unless it can be proved it's Madagascan because for the right materials pre-Columbian civilizations demonstrated a willingness not only to wage far flung wars but also to mount expeditions covering very large distances over enormously difficult jungle and mountainous terrains risking attacks from all manner of hostile tribes to bring even extremely fragile materials like enormous sheets of formica to line their temples.

I believe you mean "mica" not "formica". Formica is an American brand name for a kind of plastic. Now, if they'd used oil paints on thick woven cloth, they could have invented linoleum. I agree with Michael it's unfortunate that for attention you mislead the reader with your title.

Gary Randall March 13, PM. Don't forget that the mica chamber close to the Pyramid of the Sun in Teotwachen sp contains mica sheets that came all the way from Brazil. So why could the crystal for the skull not also have come from Brazil? Human-hours were calculated, surfaces were analysed, and conclusions made. Results confirm this type of artifact remains anomalous as to craft technology--practically impossible to repeat with our highest technology. I agree with Michael-- new analysis is appreciated but oddly slanted bias and overly generalized statements that attempt to encompass the entire collection of these artifacts is misleading.

Let's work to provide balance--these are extremely important issues regarding global technologies from the remote past We need to respect the fact that mysteries that confound modern science exist, and this remains one. Htos1 March 13, PM. And you engineers KNOW it. Hedges skull is real,and in a pure crystalline state,and oh yeah,show us how it's "faked'. WP March 19, AM. It is fake too. All are fakes, there is nogenuine precolumbian crystal skull.

So please, stop believing in fairy tales. AwakenHumanity October 31, AM. WP: you are the one who is believing the "fairy tales" that the media has brain washed your weak mind with, your statement is nothing more than regurgitated propaganda and denial spun by the elitist puppets who don't want the world to know of the powers these skulls possess and offer to humanity.

Just listen June 6, AM. Ummmmmm, they just mentioned that they have proven there is one that is precolumbian. On top of that, how can you take a goblet and compare it to something the size of the skull and say they weren't made the same?

Of course they weren't. One was made by precolombian humans. One they have no idea on how it was made. They couldn't reproduce it today, yet they say it was produced in modern times.

Now that makes since. Kind of like the pyramids throughout the world or other megalithic structures like pumapunku, todays mason with the saws and technology they have today say they COULDN'T reproduce the perfect cuts or as large of flat cuts that were being made maybe even 10, years ago.

Maybe their technology was way advanced compared to ours. It's okay. I know that's a lot to digest, so go to church and believe. Have "faith" that one being that looks like us created all this. Oh and dinosaur bones were planted by him to confuse us. If "they" can get you to believe or have "faith" in that cockamamy B. They get rich, the sheeple or herd of humans gets sick off their food and public water with chemicals added so a Dr.

Oh please February 1, AM. Of course they can reproduce anything from antiquity today. Try the chinese, they'll make you as many of whatever you want as you can pay for. IF you can pay for it. And of course we can make the pyramids today. Are you ready to pay for it? They are not very efficient though, all of those stone blocks for a couple of rooms. As per the "ancient advanced technologies" comments which constitutes the purest "argument of incredulity" also known as "the divine argument" , maybe someone should have told the romans, because they beat all those "advanced technology pyramid builders" into submission with some steel swords and wooden shields.

Not very "advanced" Not all of the crystal skulls are fake, www. Arthur March 13, PM. I find your article misleading. Although you did not state outright that all such skulls are fake, the implication is strongly there, especially in light of your comment likening belief in them to Indiana Jones fantasy.

Don't forget, one law of logic: just because one fake can be found does not prove that all are fakes. All known skulls are fakes. In some people's minds, it will never be disproven, because they want so badly for this bit of mystery and wonderment to continue. Klaus March 14, AM. When will they discover that Charles Darwin's "discoveries" of the s were fake, too? Tomalak March 14, PM. Does this mean these worthless fakes will be sold on the cheap?

I wouldn't mind getting one to put next to the fireplace. Mark Bellis April 8, AM. Mitchell-Hedges bought the skull from a collector in the UK for pounds in - no one ever thought it was a real ancient artifact before he started claiming he'd found it in Belize, something that no one else who was with him in Belize at the time is recorded as remembering. It is a nice piece of quartz and certainly was worth the pounds in I saw and handled it in , and it had a large scratch on it - it's made of quartz, not a superhard material that requires carving techniques unknown to ancient cultures, and both ancient and modern artists have used quartz as material with contemporary techniques.

Bernardo Junco May 10, AM. Production date before. Materials rock crystal. Dimensions Height: 25 centimetres. Curator's comments Jones Rock-crystal skull Although of spectacular appearance and representing considerable craftsmanship, the origins of this large carving of a skull in rock-crystal are most uncertain.

Purchased from Tiffany of New York in the late s, the skull had passed through many hands and was said by G. Kunz in to have originally been brought from Mexico by a Spanish officer 'sometime before the French occupation of Mexico'. Past speculation has suggested that the skull is in fact of Far Eastern origin, but at the time of its entry into the collections of the British Museum it had generally come to be accepted as being from pre-Hispanic Mexico. Attempts to verify this on technological grounds have not proved successful.

Although the stylisation of the features of the skull is in general accord with other examples accepted as genuine Aztec or Mixtec carvings, the overall appearance does not present an obvious example of Aztec or any other Mesoamerican art style.