The Crystal Skulls
Carved skulls of clear crystal were said to be ancient relics with mysterious powers. One was claimed to be found in a Maya ruin.
What was reported
Several carved skulls of rock crystal have been displayed in museums and private collections, said to come from the Aztecs or the Maya. The most famous, the Mitchell-Hedges skull, was said to have been found in 1924 by a teenage girl at the Maya site of Lubaantun in Belize.
Over the years, the skulls were claimed to have healing powers, to be millions of years old, or to have come from beyond Earth. They even inspired an Indiana Jones film.
Explanations offered
Scientists at the British Museum and the Smithsonian studied several skulls and found marks made by modern rotary cutting tools, which the ancient Mesoamericans did not have. They concluded the skulls were made in the 19th or 20th century. Records show that the Mitchell-Hedges skull was bought at an auction in London in 1943.
- When
- Claimed finds from the 1800s and 1924
- Where
- Lubaantun, Toledo District, Belize
- Witnesses
- Collectors, museums and scientists
- Status
- Mostly explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.