Crystal Skulls

The crystal skulls are a number of human skull carvings made of clear or milky quartz, claimed to be pre-Columbian Mesoamerican artifacts by their alleged finders; however, none of the specimens that have been made available for scientific study have been authenticated as pre-Columbian in origin. The results of these studies demonstrated that the skulls were manufactured in the mid-19th century or later, almost certainly in Europe. Despite some claims, legends of crystal skulls with mystical powers do not figure in genuine Mesoamerican or other Native American mythologies and spiritual accounts.

Many crystal skulls are claimed to be pre-Columbian, usually attributed to the Aztec or Maya civilizations. Mesoamerican art has numerous representations of skulls, but none of the skulls in museum collections comes from documented excavations. Research carried out on several crystal skulls at the British Museum in 1967, 1996 and again in 2004 has shown that the indented lines marking the teeth were carved using tools developed in the 19th century. The type of crystal used to make the skulls was determined only to be found in Madagascar and Brazil, and thus unobtainable or unknown within pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. The study concluded that the skulls were crafted in the 19th century in Germany, quite likely at workshops in the town of Idar-Oberstein renowned for crafting objects made from imported Brazilian quartz at this period in the late 19th century.

Using electron microscopy and X-ray crystallography, a team of British and American researchers found that the British Museum skull was worked with a harsh abrasive substance and shaped using a rotary disc tool made from metal. The Smithsonian specimen had been worked with a synthetic substance manufactured using modern industrial techniques. Since the development of this substance dates only to the 1890s and its wider availability to the 20th century, the researchers concluded that the skulls were "made in the 1950s or later".

Believers in the paranormal claim that the crystal skulls can produce a variety of miracles. Anna Mitchell-Hedges claimed that the skull she allegedly discovered could cause visions, cure cancer, that she once used its magical properties to kill a man, and that she saw in it a premonition of the John F. Kennedy assassination.

Claims of the healing and supernatural powers of crystal skulls have no support in the scientific community, which has neither found evidence of any unusual phenomena associated with the skulls nor any reason for further investigation.