Page 11 - 200806 - The 'X' Chronicles Newspaper - June 2008

Hoax Of ‘Ancient’ Crystal Skulls 1 11 1 Hoax Of ‘Ancient’ Crystal Skulls Dubbing it “The Skull of Doom,” With a high-tech Mitchell-Hedges began producing it to entertain With a high-tech microscope, scientist microscope, scientist guests at social gatherings. According to him, it exposes hoax of had been made 3,600 years ago. Mayan priests exposes hoax of wielded it to invoke gods and devils. Its curse 'ancient' crystal skulls could bring misfortune and death. 'ancient' crystal skulls As more skulls were “discovered” by others, the fanciful accounts escalated. Some By Donald Smith By Donald Smith said the things came from the lost kingdom of Atlantis, which had received them from space aliens. Others said the skulls had accompanied the Knights Templar in the Crusades. The objects emitted strange lights and sounds, depending on the alignment of the planets. They This electron scanning microscope image channeled spirits. They talked. reveals the signature left by ancient stone- They could do stand-up comedy as far as carving techniques. The picture shows the Walsh is concerned and they still wouldn’t silicone cast of an irregular groove cut impress her as having been made much earlier centuries ago by a pre-Columbian sculptor than the 19th century, if then. using primitive techniques. (Jane Walsh “If you were a pre-Columbian artisan Photo) and you wanted to carve something in stone or rock crystal—which is actually quartz—you’d use a stone file with maybe sand as an abrasive,” Walsh says. Modern stone carving tools have embedded abrasives, usually diamond or carborundum. They just leave very different imprints in the stone.” In investigating the skull owned by the Smithsonian—which the Institution had received in the mail from a donor in 1992— Walsh scoured historical records. Then, using methods first developed by Margaret Sax, a Jane Walsh holds a skull carved from crystal, materials specialist at the British Museum, which was donated to the Smithsonian’s Walsh plunged into a world where distances are National Museum of Natural History in 1992. measured in microns. This electron scanning microscope image Close analysis revealed that it is a 20th- reveals the signature left by ancient stone- dead giveaway century creation and not an ancient artifact. A A dead giveaway carving techniques. The picture shows the (Photo by Owen Macdonald) silicone cast of an irregular groove cut At a table behind her desk at the Natural centuries ago by a pre-Columbian sculptor History Museum, Walsh takes out a small stone using primitive techniques. (Jane Walsh They were relics of a lost civilization, hand-crafted by wizards, or possibly carving, then picks up a device that looks like photo) extraterrestrials. They could cast spells, conjure one of Martha Stewart’s glue guns. Walsh spirits, cure illness and foretell the future. squeezes a quarter-size dollop of oozy black At least that’s what a lot of people silicone onto a section of the carving. Within a Modern fakes Modern fakes believed when a number of humanlike skulls few minutes the material hardens. She peels it carved out of rock crystal began causing a off and holds up a perfect mold of the carving. Walsh took the Smithsonian’s crystal sensation in the art and antiquities world some Not only are the tiniest details revealed, but they skull to London, where it and two similar skulls 60 years ago. pop out in relief, enabling Walsh to examine owned by the British Museum were subjected Actually, they aren’t ancient at all. And them more closely. to the microscopic treatment. Sax and Walsh now, the archaeological detective who applied After receiving a super-fine coating of compared these skulls to several carved crystal space-age methods to expose the true nature of gold to reflect electrons, the mold is placed in a artifacts from Mexico known to be authentic these strange objects is developing a way to vacuum container to have its portrait made by a and to a crystal skull known to have been help museums around the world separate real scanning electron microscope. At carved in modern times. artifacts from modern fakes. magnifications of 50 to 100 times, even an “We discovered that all of the crystal “Crystal skulls have always been untrained observer can quickly discern patterns skulls had been carved with modern coated questionable,” says Jane Walsh, an made by ancient tools versus modern ones. lapidary wheels using industrial diamonds and anthropologist at the Smithsonian’s National Scorings made by pre-Columbian tools polished with modern machinery,” Walsh says. Museum of Natural History. “Nobody has ever look uneven and messy. Modern stone-carving Walsh is now working toward a excavated one. But they are in a number of and polishing implements leave uniform marks collaboration with the British Museum to major museums, including our own. That’s how that look like more like brushed steel. The develop a database of scanning electron we first got involved. reason is that abrasives that were used to make microscope images—taken of both authentic genuinely old artifacts—ancient craftsmen typically used sand—tended to move around as and fake carvings—that can be accessed via Curses, gods and devils the tool dug into the stone’s surface. Modern computer by other museum professionals. She Curses, gods and devils abrasives that are permanently affixed to is trying to raise $25,000 for the project, to be Tall tales concerning the crystal skulls engraving and polishing tools leave neat, even spent mostly on travel to London and Mexico first began circulating in 1943, when F.A. rows. City to make molds. Mitchell-Hedges, a colorful British banker- Another dead giveaway is the use of In the meantime, the Smithsonian’s turned-adventurer, and his adopted daughter, wheeled tools—used, for example, to inscribe crystal skull, a heavy object with a splotchy Anna, made a startling announcement. During a the lines between teeth on a skull. These lines whitish complexion, resides inside a plain beige 1920s expedition deep into the jungles of show up as arcs where the wheel has bitten into metal cabinet in Jane Walsh’s outer office. No Belize, Anna discovered, tucked away under the the stone. As far as anyone knows, wheels were one has ever heard it say a word. It passes the altar of a Mayan temple, a crystal skull with unknown to pre-Columbian Americans. time in silence, staring sightlessly, one supernatural powers. Or so they claimed. presumes, into the darkness. []