The Mystery of the 13 Mayan Crystal Skulls: Extraterrestrial Artifacts or Archaeological Hoax?

Unearthed in Mexico and Central America, at least ten mysterious Mayan crystal skulls date back hundreds to thousands of years ago. 

These strange artifacts, carved from large pieces of crystal, usually quartz, are similar in size and features to human skulls, with orbits, nasal cavities, and cranial curvature. 

The Mysterious Mayan Crystal Skulls

The most intricately crafted crystal skulls even have detachable mandibles, adding to their allure.

While some attribute paranormal qualities to these skulls, their origin remains a mystery. 

Current methods of artifact dating cannot provide conclusive evidence to support or refute such claims. However, it is generally believed that skulls carved with metal tools can be a few hundred years old if they originated in Mexico or Central America.

Although some crystal skulls have been linked to the Mayan culture, which thrived in Southern Mexico and Central America during the first millennium AD, no known Mayan cultural tradition is associated with crystal skulls or their veneration. 

Studies of symbols, artifacts, and recurring hieroglyphic references have established this. 

Although there are some indications that the Aztec civilization, which preceded and was located further north than the Mayan civilization, held symbolic importance for the skulls, there are even fewer enthusiasts who connect them to the Aztecs.

So where are these crystal skulls coming from?

Proponents of Mayan crystal skulls believe they can awaken human consciousness to a higher spiritual level. 

Some even claim to have experienced extrasensory connections while gazing at one of the crystal skulls and allege that such artifacts emanate positive energy. 

Fans of quartz crystal skulls and other quartz items claim that they have the mystical ability to record events, thoughts, and feelings in their presence. 

They assert that ancient populations created these artifacts, suggesting they used them as therapeutic artifacts, oracles of attaining cosmic wisdom, receivers of universal knowledge, and instruments of obtaining divine wisdom.

Ancient Technology or Modern-Day Jewelry?

Two well-known crystal skulls are displayed at the British Museum in London and the Trocadero Museum in Paris. 

Both are believed to be from Mexico, with definitive information that they were purchased around 1890. 

The London Museum acquired its specimen from the New York jewelry firm Tiffany in 1898. 

However, tests conducted in 1995 revealed the presence of steel fragments in the crystal, likely from a jeweler’s tool, confirming that the object was of modern origin. 

Therefore, the dating was moved from ancient Aztec times to a much more recent era, after the Spanish Conquest of Mexico in 1520.

The amethyst and Maya crystal skulls were discovered in Guatemala around 1900. 

The latter is named after the Maya ruins where it was found and is currently used by a fortune teller who claims to be aided by its qualities in making predictions. 

Both skulls showcase incredible artistic mastery.

The pink quartz crystal skull, discovered at the border between Honduras and Guatemala, features detachable jawbones, similar to the most famous Mayan crystal skull, the Mitchell-Hedges skull. 

The artifact is named after its discoverers and keepers, F. A. Mitchell-Hedges (1882-1959) and his daughter Anna (1910-2007), and is widely considered the most exquisite example of a crystal skull.

Carved from a single piece of pure quartz, the artifact is roughly the size of an adult woman’s skull. The jaws are also quartz and fit perfectly with the rest of the skull, giving it a sense of balance.

While some experts attribute these skulls to different origins, such as Babylon, the Middle East, or the American continent, they all share common features.

The British Museum’s skull is also carved from a single block of pure quartz, known as rock crystal, and weighs approximately 11 lbs. Despite being studied with an electron microscope, no scratches were identified on its surface.

Experts have determined that the skull was not cast or made with available tools. In fact, experts believe it would have taken one person about 300 years of continuous work, day and night, to polish the object to its current state.

The Mitchell-Hedges Crystal Skull

The two mysteries surrounding the Mitchell-Hedges crystal skull are its manufacturing method and discovery history. 

Experts believe that the object was formed from a large block of crystal carved into the approximate shape of a skull and then finished with water and a solution of silicon sand and crystal or unknown technology. 

Analyzes revealed no indications that the Mitchell-Hedges crystal skull was carved with metal instruments. 

The grooves inside the skull are said to channel light from the base towards the orbits like the modern optical technology, and the orbits have concave shapes that reflect light toward the top of the skull.

The prisms and light tunnels inside are believed to be the reason why objects look bigger and brighter when held under the skull.

Some individuals claim that the Mitchell-Hedges skull changes color, sometimes appearing whitish or transitioning from gray to an intense black. 

Many who have viewed the object speak of strange visions; some have even claimed to detect a dull roar or a particular smell. 

Like other similar mystical objects, the Mitchell-Hedges crystal skull is known for having certain healing powers. Some believe the artifact can accumulate natural magnetism, amplify, and transmit energy.

The first owner of the crystal skull, F. A. Mitchell-Hedges, claimed in his journals that the artifact had the power to kill people, citing examples of some of his rivals who disappeared without a trace. 

Controversies of the Mitchell-Hedges Crystal Skull

Mitchell-Hedges was an excentric explorer and adventurer who wrote several books about his search for lost tribes and the lost continent, Atlantis (“Lands Wonder and Fear,” 1931), as well as his encounters with sea monsters (“Battles With Monsters of Giant Fish,” 1923 and “Battles With Monsters of the Sea,” 1937).

In 1927, Mitchell-Hedges and his daughter Anna were clearing debris from the roof of an ancient Mayan temple in Lubaantun, located in present-day Belize. 

Anna, 17 years old at that time, uncovered what became known as the Mitchell-Hedges crystal skull. A few weeks later, she found the lower jaw of the artifact.

However, Mitchell-Hedges did not publish anything about the discovery until 1943, when he named the object the “Cursed Skull” and claimed it to be 3,600 years old. 

Strangely, he only mentions the artifact in his autobiography “Danger My Ally” (1954). After he died in 1959, his daughter Anna became the skull keeper.

Today, it is widely accepted that Anna Mitchell-Hedges did not discover the famous Mitchell-Hedges crystal skull in the ruins of the Mayan city in 1927 but that her father bought it at a Sotheby’s auction in London in 1943. 

Such assertions have been verified by documents from the British Museum, which had contested the possession of the object with the Mitchell-Hedges family.

In 1970, the skull was examined by restorer Frank Dorland, who claimed to have seen a spirit after studying the skull late at night in his own home. 

According to Dorland, tests conducted at Hewlett-Packard Laboratories in Santa Clara, California, indicated that the artifact had been worked without metal tools and cut along the axis of the skull. 

However, the validity of the tests has been questioned, as has the entire story of the Mitchell-Hedges crystal skull.

The Crystal Skull from Texas

In 1980, Jo Ann and Carl Parks became the owners of the famous “Crystal Skull from Texas,” which they affectionately call Max, when a Tibetan healer gave them the object to repay a debt. 

Claiming to have been initially unaware of the object’s significance, Carl and Jo Ann left it in a cupboard for seven years. 

Only after making acquaintance with F. N. “Nick” Nocerino from Pinole, California, one of the most renowned experts in crystal skulls and director of the Crystal Skull Society, did they realize the value of their artifact.

Nocerino had been searching for the skull since the 1940s, having known of its existence but had searched for it in vain worldwide. 

Of the 13 human head-size crystal skulls known to researchers, “Max” is the largest, weighing almost 20 lbs, compared to the others, weighing 10 and 11 lbs.

“Max” was found in a Mayan tomb in Guatemala, and it is estimated to come from a 60 lbs quartz rock over half a million years old. 

People who got the chance to be near “Max” claim they saw images and had visions, which they believed to be scenes from Earth’s history, and often perceived messages and images related to the UFO phenomenon.

“Whether you believe it or not, if you look at this object from a scientific and archaeological point of view, you can’t help but be overwhelmed by the remarkable skill with which it was crafted,” said Jo Ann Parks.

Today, “Max” is displayed at the Museum of Mankind in London and is considered a 19th-century object. Researchers are convinced that all the evidence points to a recent origin of all the crystal skulls. 

Who Made the Crystal Skulls?

Until compelling evidence emerges proving, without doubt, that an ancient civilization venerated such artifacts or that they are remnants of a lost civilization, belief in the unique qualities of the skulls continues to persist in the minds of the adherents of mysticism.

Yet, none of the crystal skulls have been found in any official archaeological excavation, leading experts at the British Museum to regard them as likely fake. 

Due to the uncertainty surrounding their origins and composition of inorganic matter, determining their age through radiocarbon dating (C-14) is impossible, giving rise to extravagant hypotheses and legends.

Some of the skulls underwent laboratory analysis by Hewlett-Packard (HP), a renowned electronics company specializing in crystal research. 

However, the experts could not explain how the ancients could have crafted the skulls from a single block of quartz, often “cutting” against the natural axes of the crystal, which is an arduous process, even for modern-day instruments.

They claimed that even with the most advanced technology available today, it would take up to a year to make a crystal skull, and there is no guarantee that the quartz would not crack during the process. 

Moreover, it would take an estimated 300 years to make them by hand, without tools that could cause vibrations and heat, leading one of the HP specialists to express that these skulls simply shouldn’t exist.

And here is another strange fact.

All these crystal skulls are made from single crystal blocks, sometimes three times larger than the actual artifact. 

The ancient artisan could not have known that the rock core was solid enough, as large crystal blocks typically have pores and holes in the center.

So he should have started carving the piece and worked on it, day and night, for years just to expose the core and see if it was solid or cracked. 

Why do something like that if you are an ancient sculptor that, most likely, is already overwhelmed with work?

The Strange Myth of the 13 Mayan Crystal Skulls

Some South American tribes claim that authentic crystal skulls can speak. 

They believe they were 13 Mayan crystal skulls representing the Sun, the Moon, and the 10 planets of our solar system. 

The 13th skull depicts Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent, or the Flying Serpent. Ancient Maya legends say Quetzalcoatl will return and lead the solar system again.

The Mayan year had 13 months and 20 days, and there were 13 gods in the sky above, each represented by a skull.

The tribes that have transmitted the legend of the skulls that will save the world are the Mayans from Mexico, who recorded it in the Popol Vuh; the Aztecs, from Mexico; the Navajo Indians, from the Southeast US; and the Cherokees and Senecas (Iroquois League), from the North West US.

According to legend, the 13 crystal skulls can transmit information through “cosmic rays,” basically making them highly advanced computers that can record energies from people or store part of the Earth’s secret history.

While most archaeologists and scientists are skeptical of such claims due to lacking supporting evidence, some traditional Mayan teachers, such as Alejandro Cirilo Perez Oxlaj, believe in the crystal skull’s power. 

Perez Oxlaj received the “sacred summer” from his father, the thirteenth generation of spiritual guides in his family when he was only thirteen years old. 

Later, he had a revelatory experience where “invisible beings” baptized him “Wakatel Utiw” (eng. The Wandering Wolf) and charged him with the responsibility of being the “Voice of the Jungle” and messenger of the Mayans.

As part of his mission, Perez Oxlaj travels around the world to represent the ancient Mayans, transmitting prophecies and a message of respect and love for all beings. 

He believes the crystal skulls were brought from the Pleiades and speak of reincarnation. However, according to Perez Oxlaj, the crystal skulls must be returned to their original home, since the artifacts do not belong to this world. 

Perez Oxlaj believes the Mayans came from the ancient city of Atlantis. They built their first pyramids in Atlantis, but after the city was covered by water, the Mayans left and settled in South America. 

The first Mayan city was Tulan, and the Pleiades made many visits there before returning to Asia, Tibet, Kamaya, and India, where they were known as Nagayama.

Crystal Skulls: Separating Fact from Fiction

The crystal skulls have long been shrouded in mystery, with many claiming they possess supernatural or healing powers. 

However, much of the information surrounding them is based on hearsay and folklore, rather than concrete evidence. 

In this article, we aim to separate fact from fiction and shed some light on the truth behind the crystal skulls.

One of the most interesting observations made by HP specialists is that crystal skulls can act as memory chips in an undiscovered way, as they are made of similar materials to modern computers’ CPUs. 

However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that they possess supernatural powers.

The Mayan tradition states that the old shaman of the tribe would choose a young shaman with abilities and transfer all his knowledge to the young one through a crystal skull ritual. 

Today, Mayan descendants use crystal skulls as “healing stones.” 

Modern research confirms that the strong vibrations of crystals resonate with the vibrations of the human body’s internal organs, re-balancing the organism’s energy level.

Four crystal skulls circulating among different collectors are made from antique transparent quartz, amethyst, pink quartz, and smoky quartz. 

These are part of the 13 about which Mayan legends say will assist the world in passing into another life cycle. However, to fulfill their purpose, they must be in possession of the Mayan descendants. 

According to legend, when they are reunited, they will have the power to save humanity by transmitting essential data for the salvation of the Earth.

The Cherokee Indians have their own legend about crystal skulls. 

They say that 12 inhabited planets in our solar system had a crystal skull in which their entire history was stored. 

The 13th skull was on Earth, and together, they created an extremely powerful electrical flux. 

The Cherokee Indians say there are 52 crystal skulls, of which 13 were in possession of the Mayans. 

These skulls had been brought to Earth by extraterrestrial beings. They contained coded data about the history of the Universe, data that was to be revealed to the Earthlings when they could understand it.

According to the legend, 13 representatives of different extraterrestrial races had brought the crystal skulls from space and entrusted them to leaders from around the world. 

When the time comes, the skulls will be rediscovered, the same legend foretells. 

Then, the 12 skulls must be arranged in a circle, with the 13th in the middle. Once this is done, the world will be changed entirely, the poles will be reversed, and people will gain knowledge of lost or hidden civilizations.