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Unmasking the Myths of Crystal Skulls: Fact vs. Fiction - Aliens 72
272 Plays8 hours ago
The legend of crystal skulls captivates the imagination, interweaving tales of ancient wisdom, extraterrestrial artifacts, and mystical powers. However, a closer examination reveals that many of these claims are steeped in modern invention rather than historical fact. Frederick meticulously investigates the origins of the most notorious crystal skulls, notably the Mitchell-Hedges Skull, which has been venerated by some as an ancient artifact with supernatural qualities. Contrary to popular belief, extensive research indicates that these skulls were likely manufactured in Germany, utilizing modern tools and techniques that were not available to ancient civilizations.
Throughout this captivating exploration, Frederick addresses the pseudoscientific narratives that have proliferated around these skulls, exposing the lack of credible evidence supporting their supposed ancient origins. The episode further critiques the appropriation of Indigenous cultures in the promotion of these myths, spotlighting how New Age movements often fabricate connections to Native American spiritual practices to enhance the allure of these artifacts. The discussion serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of misrepresenting cultural histories and the commercialization of spiritual beliefs, reminding listeners that the enchanting stories surrounding crystal skulls are often just that—stories—rather than grounded realities. Ultimately, this episode calls for a more nuanced understanding of these artifacts, advocating for recognition of their artistic value while dispelling the myths that have overshadowed their true origins.
A fully sourced transcript can be found at the episode page at: https://diggingupancientaliens.com/episode-72-the-crystal-skulls
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Transcript
00:00:00
Speaker
You're listening to the Archaeology Podcast Network.
00:00:19
Speaker
Welcome to Digging up Ancient Aliens. This is the podcast where we examine alternative history and ancient alien narratives in popular media. Do these claims hold water to an archaeologist or are there better explanations out there? We are now on episode 72 and I am Fredrik, your guide into the world of pseudo-archaeology. This time we will look at the mysterious crystal skulls.
00:00:47
Speaker
Yeah, it's those crystal skulls. Are they connected to the Mayans? Do they have magical powers? Well, a better question is to start to see if they are authentic, maybe. Join me as we will explore this topic together. And I want to thank all of those who so supporting the show financially, like Threes for example,
00:01:12
Speaker
You are really helping out helping me out producing this content, and I'm humbled and grateful for your support. And if you want to help out, I will tell you how to do that and how to get some bonus stuff at the end of this episode. And also remember that you find sources, resources, and reading suggestions on our website, taking up ancientaliens.com.
00:01:35
Speaker
There you can also find contact info if you notice any mistakes or have any suggestions. And if you like the podcast, I would really appreciate it if you left one of those fancy 5-star reviews that I heard so much about. Now, before I get into the episode itself, I just want to mention one more thing. And as so happens, I'm part of an online project promoting good archaeology.
00:02:01
Speaker
And there's many awesome creators who will participate in an online event taking place on the, between the 25th and the 27th of October. Just head over to real dash-archaeology dot.com. That's real dash-archaeology dot.com, where you can find all the information about this project, who will participate in everything like that, or follow the links in the show notes. now With that, we have finished our preparation and let's dig into the episode.
00:02:46
Speaker
So, the Crystal Skulls. I think most people have actually heard about these at one point or another. They are featured in the Indiana Jones movie we don't really like to talk about. But if you aren't familiar with these objects, the story that ancient aliens and the others usually present is that these crystal ah objects are powerful for some reason. According to these modern legends, there are supposed to be 13 of these crystal skulls in the world, but only 12 of them have been found so far. But if these 13 crystal skulls would be brought together, something magical or powerful would happen.
00:03:32
Speaker
the effect would differ or differs depending on who is telling this story. That's not great when you have these large discrepancies between stories, but some would say that it can very well control nature, while others claim you get you unlock store information inside the skulls and some claims that this is some kind of super weapon.
00:03:56
Speaker
As you might suspect, this is just pure fiction. These goals are modern inventions that can be traced back to a man called the Mitchell Hedges. I will c circle back to him and his story a little bit later, something worth acknowledging and something that ancient aliens even mentioned in their episode is that there are thousands, there's thousands of crystal skulls out there, all of them created in our modern time. Philip Coppins even seemed to have a moment of of sober reflection in the show as we hear here. The crystal skulls have become so famous that the field has been flooded with dozens of modern skulls and on a number of occasions people who have possessed these skulls are trying to pretend as if their skull is ancient.
00:04:56
Speaker
And this of course is very difficult because at the same time we have the skeptics, the scientists who basically say it is all fake. And so as a result of which we're really confronted with a mixture of crystal skulls and a very difficult situation. So while the ancient alien people seem prepared to admit that, well, at least most of them are fakes, they still claim that, well, 12 of them are real. And if you are happy with fakes, there are sites that will sell you kits of all 13 skulls. You don't even have to go out and look for them yourself. You can just set them up at home and get all the medical powers you want, because apparently it doesn't really matter when they were created for some reason.
00:05:44
Speaker
But what skulls are classified as authentic to these believers? and Well, again, they are not too specific due to well the chance of an authentic skull being disproven, I believe. They seem to agree that the Mitchell Hedges is said ah authentic or genuine, at least according to the believers.
00:06:05
Speaker
Even if, as we will see in a bit, this seems to not longer be the case, or it was never ah authentic, but we will get to that in a moment. So, what is this Mitchell-Headier skull? Sometimes it's referred to as the skull of doom, and, well, where did it came from? If we listen to the alien narrative, we often get a story that goes something like this. In 1924 the British adventurer and pulp writer Frederick Albert Mitchell Hedges and his adopted daughter Anna were exploring and excavating a site called Lubantu in modern Belize. Anna going into one of these abandoned temples looking with just a flashlight and he encounters this rubble of a collapsed altar at the back of one of these abandoned temples.
00:07:01
Speaker
She goes up and starts to The issue with this story is that neither of the Mitchell had just mentioned this in any of their notes from the expedition, or other well frederick mitchell hedges don't mention any of these in his notes from this expedition nor does any other that were present at Lubantun at the time mention this discovery or the event for that matter.
00:07:34
Speaker
The first time Mitchell Hedges mentioned this, well, senior Mitchell Hedges mentioned this, is in a letter. He mentioned a skull in a letter to his brother, stating that he bought it at an auction in 1943. This corresponds well with the earliest publication that mentioned this skull,
00:07:54
Speaker
and It's a 1936 article in the anthropology journal called Man, and in this article we can read that the skull is in the possession of a guy called Sidney Burney, a London-based art dealer. The same art dealer that would in 1943 sell the skull at an auction to senior Mitchell Hedges.
00:08:19
Speaker
and Sidney Burney got his hand on the skull, not from some explorer returning from a Maya temple, but from a French art collector named Eugene Boban, or supposed to have gotten this from Eugene Boban. Boban has sold at least two skulls that we know for sure that he was in possession of, according to an archivist at the Smithsonian named Jane Walsh.
00:08:48
Speaker
You might ask Frederick, could it not be that this Bob-on fellow just got it from an expedition in the Guatemalan jungles? While it's plausible, the evidence seems to point to the fact that these skulls originated in Germany, specifically the town of Idar Oberstein and this town is renowned for its gemstone refinery, and they also worked quite a lot with crystals. Unfortunately, we don't have hard evidence that Bernie got the skull from Buban. It's not like we have a little detail in this trade, but we have enough circumstantial evidence to at least argue a decent case that Buban is
00:09:36
Speaker
the origin, and since we know that Buban got his other skulls from Germany, we can fairly surely claim that the the Michael or Mitchell Hedges skull is also from Germany. Now, f FA Mitchell Hedges didn't really talk much about the crystal skull during his life.
00:09:59
Speaker
He mentioned it in in a paragraph in his ah in the first edition of his 1954 biography called Danger, My Alley, and in this first edition he writes that, quote, it is at least 3,600 years old and according to the legend it was used by the high priest of the Maya when he performed esoteric rites.
00:10:24
Speaker
It's said that when he wielded death with the help of the skull, death invariably followed. The section is, however, removed in later editions of this book. And most of the stories we hear today are told by his daughter Anna, and she is definitely the one who made the skull famous and brought it out into the larger New Age audience.
00:10:52
Speaker
So what we can say for sure is that this goal was traded in the Arctic in the early 1900s. And a reasonable question to ask here if is it's been scientifically studied.
00:11:08
Speaker
ah because tool marks could actually help us determine when the skull was created and maybe even the origin of this is a piece of crystal. Now the ancient alien expert have this to claim ah about that particular part. Listen here.
00:11:29
Speaker
When it comes to the Mitchell Hatches Crystal Skull, it has been analyzed on a number of occasions. Frank Dorland in the 1960s did it as a private individual, Hewlett-Packard did it as well, and the British Museum did a very short analysis in 1980 as well. So this skull has been subjected to a number of detailed scientific analyses.
00:11:50
Speaker
In all of those occasions, what was found was that it was almost impossible for a human being to make this. Is this really what the studies have revealed? Well, first of all, Anna Mitchell-Herdius never, never let the skull be scientifically tested during her lifetime using modern equipment.
00:12:14
Speaker
Now, the we have this guy Frank Torland and he was a freelance art restorer and he kind of got to examine it and while doing that he also later did numerous claims about the skulls. But we should note that he did not do a scientific testing of the skull with modern equipment. He did however mention that he noticed mechanical grinding on the teeth of the skull This grinding was possibly made by tools tipped with diamonds. It was also suggested that the skull was made of a composite of quartz. It was several pieces put together. and Based on his observation, Doroland indicated that the skull was likely 10,000 years old. now During Doroland's caretaking of the skull, it caught the attention of a writer named Richard
00:13:10
Speaker
Garvin, who managed the Hevlet Packard's advertising accounts. now Garvin organized tests at HP's Crystal Labs in Santa Clara. The labs discovered that, contrary to Dorland's belief, the skull and its detachable jaw was carved from a single piece of quartz crystal.
00:13:33
Speaker
Notably, HP did not investigate how it was made or try to determine the age of the piece. Later, Mayan archaeologist Norman Hammond, who seemed to have an opportunity to examine this goal, also reporting that There, he could see some holes that he seems to think were made by metallic drill. But this was the extent of the examination during Anna Mitchell Hedges' lifetime. Now, when she died in 2007, the skull went to her husband, Bill Hohmann, who for the first time would let the skull be examined with modern equipment.
00:14:17
Speaker
The one who was ah being put in charge of the test is said Jane McLaren Walsh, an anthropologist whose expertise is in discovering fake pre-Columbian objects.
00:14:33
Speaker
And she was the one who was going to perform the analysis of this crystal skull. And the tests were all performed at the Smithsonian Institute. And during these session is two session here, one in 2007 and one in 2008. They use several different equipments. And in 2008, they also did a SEM analysis. And this would demonstrate that as Walls put it, quote,
00:14:59
Speaker
It seems reasonable to conclude from the same images that the Mitchell-Hedges skull was carved in modern times with high speed diamond coated rotary burning and cutting tools of minute dimension. Analysis of other skulls has shown similar results. In the crystal skull found at the Smithsonian, walls found a deposit of silicon carbide and this is a modern abrasive and not used until after 1930. Jane Walls also compared his skull with genuine artefacts made out of quartz from the correct Mayan period. For example a very nice looking quartz goblet that I hope to have up on the website
00:15:44
Speaker
Now, the tool marks we find there are in line with the tools available to the people of the time and that differs entirely from what we see in these more modern crystal skulls. It might be good to mention that no archaeologists have since discovered a crystal skull at any excavation. We have no good no good damn in find of a crystal skull, so to say.
00:16:13
Speaker
And all of those founding museums are later creations. Each or one that's been examined all indicate a modern origin. And I would suspect that this goes for the other suppose-goals that we supposedly find in private collections.
00:16:33
Speaker
Of course, the ancient alien people claimed that an advanced civilization or aliens could have had these tools, and they tried to prove this by using historical or legendary sources. So let's see what the Chris Morton has to say. Several Native American tribes will have similar stories about ancient crystal skulls that were said to have been left behind by the earliest ancestors way back in the mister time.
00:17:01
Speaker
Some believe that these are ancient artifacts left behind by extraterrestrials, or that they were remnants left over from the lost civilizations. So we have yet again that claimed that Native Americans, or as we learned in previous episodes, any indigenous people have legends clearly fitting with what we see on the television screen. A huge, huge issue here for a Mortonist as well.
00:17:30
Speaker
it's not it's just not true. This is is an invention by the New Age people and the ancient arsenal, the theorists themselves. And while some Native Americans might have incorporated these ideas in their belief today, these claims were not present before the New Age authors started to make these claims. And Authors, historians, religion experts have all looked at these claims and none of them have been able to find the origin. and As usual, ancient aliens don't give you a source for where or which group telling these stories. and We have discussed the use of plastic shamanism in the past, the appropriation of a Native American spirituality, especially by new age groups where ancient aliens have strong ties.
00:18:22
Speaker
and it has a long and problematic history. Raina Green's article, The Tribe Called Wannabe, highlights how Euro-Americans have often romanticized and mimicked indigenous culture, and this translates back to the 1800s with the Wild West and medicine shows that was popular then,
00:18:42
Speaker
and This fascination has evolved over time with non-native groups adopting indigenous in spiritual symbols and practices. However, the rise of so-called plastic shamans didn't gain momentum until the New Age movement in the 1970s.
00:19:01
Speaker
These self-proclaimed spiritual leaders often fabricate stories about being taught by Native American elders despite lacking genuine connection to these cultures. A prominent example is, for example, Lynn Andrews, who claims mentorship from a fictional Cree medicine woman, reflecting a typical pattern in such narrative. The New Age movement differs from traditional religious and lacking formal doctrines, membership of structure, and it mainly attracts white, middle-aged participants who pay for books, classes and workshops, which often is led by other white,
00:19:41
Speaker
individuals posing and dressing as shamans. These portrayals rely on stereotypes and cherry-picked elements of indigenous tradition, distorting the true meaning of both the culture and the spiritual value that these tribes rely on. Claims of Native American legends like the Crystal Skulls, for example, are inventions with no basis in authentic indigenous history. These myths
00:20:14
Speaker
emerged in the modern New Age literature rather than pre-existing Native American tradition. The ongoing misrepresentation of Native culture even in popular media perpetuates a cycle of exploitation and misunderstanding that undermines the depth and diversity of indigenous spirituality. But this is nothing new in the Ancient Alien series, and this episode feel well it will become worse. We meet in this episode a woman named Sherry Whitfield, who is the owner of a crystal skull that she has named Synergy.
00:20:53
Speaker
She claimed to have gotten this from a businessman. How she got it really? The episode doesn't tell you us. But what the show leaves out, but Jason Colavito doesn't, is that Whitfield believes the skull to be from Lemuria.
00:21:09
Speaker
well, older Atlantis. Coloveto writes that quote, she is in fact used it as a source of income, selling merchandise and pimping out ah its alleged sacred mysteries for cash. All the while the unnamed tribe is supposedly believing this object is so sacred that they can't even talk about it. Now Whitfield says in the episode
00:21:36
Speaker
And he said he brought the photos and he brought the little skull to the shaman and the chief and everything stopped. And they declared 24 hours of feasting and telling stories about the skulls. It was really cool because Really, they don't talk that much about the skulls and their everyday life. It's part of their sacred secrets and their teachings. Now they say that they didn't make the skull, that it was passed to them as a legacy. So it's an ancestral object.
00:22:10
Speaker
Their legend is that their tribe was started by a white man and a black man, twins. Their whole religion revolves around twins. and they have the twin of this skull. Their legends are that there were two of these skulls made identical. There's a powerful spirit in crystal skulls.
00:22:30
Speaker
and This narrative presents several problematic aspects that warrant critical examination. Firstly, it seems to misrepresent or maybe even oversimplify indigenous belief by suggesting that ah entire tribes' religion revolves solely around twins,
00:22:50
Speaker
and their origins can be traced back to a white man and a black man. Now, these seem to impose an external narrative on these unnamed tribes' history, and perpetuals are cultural stereotypes and inaccuracy.
00:23:06
Speaker
Secondly, the emphasis on the crystal skull possessing powerful spirits align with the debunked myth of often propagated by pseudoscientific theories, lacking credible historical or archaeological, as we've seen evidence such Sensation lift not only spreads misinformation, but also disrespects the sacred tradition of these cultures by divulging the post-secret without consent. Ultimately, this account exemplifies how exorcism and a disregard for cultural sensitivity
00:23:45
Speaker
that can lead to, well, as we have learned throughout the series, harmful and misleading portrayals of indigenous people and their rich histories.
00:23:56
Speaker
in case with phil saying is actually true touch for Finally, the show is trying to claim that crystals have magical powers in general. In this they invoke the legendary druids, Jonathan Young says The Druids used Crystal to tell fortunes, to read the future, to do ecstatic mystical rituals. The Scott Highlanders called these stones of power. Again, this is based on pure again pure fiction and fantasy friends. This seems to not have been the case, and the experts I've contacted have not heard that this has ever been a thing. They haven't even heard this claim before. but
00:24:40
Speaker
yeah It sounds good, and it creates ah good historical narratives that some believe in, but in the end, it's nothing more than fiction. but It shows how the ancient astronaut theorists or similar types, they are not beyond making up arguments or evidence for that matter. That's why it's so important to fact check what you see online. And I'm not saying that you should take even my words face value. You should go to my sources. You should read them and see, do I give you a proper representation of what they're saying or
00:25:17
Speaker
Am I also trying to sell you something? But for a layperson, these can be very difficult. So while you should try to always go and check the sources, you to some extent also need to trust the experts.
00:25:33
Speaker
and I'm always open when I'm out of my depth, as you know. And you're more than welcome to call me on stuff that you find that I got wrong or might have misrepresented misrepresant and you know things happen. You can't be perfect all the time, even if I try, even if I try.
00:25:53
Speaker
But to sum up, all the skulls we have found and examined are modern creation. Many are great works of art and should be displayed in that capacity. But when it comes to the claims about the crystal skulls' origins and potential powers,
00:26:10
Speaker
These are all just made up. Every time someone investigates them from a scientific and neutral perspective, things are shown to be, well, very far from what the fanciful story tells us. While it's material for great fiction, plausible, except for that Indiana Jones movie, there are no evidence of alien interference or lost technology.
00:26:39
Speaker
And that will close out the episode. I hope to see you next time. And I will be at QED as usual, and I will give a short talk at Skepta Camp during the Friday. I think my blocks start at 3 p.m. And if you are there, feel free to come up, say hi and tune in. I will talk about the sea monsters and the regional identity and a bit of Vikings also. Now, if you enjoy the show, I hope that you leave a positive review on platforms like iTunes or Spotify, or just recommend a couple episodes to your friends. That's the best way to get people into this. And if you want more information about the podcast or about me, you can go to diggingupancientaliens.com, where you also find a transcript with all the sources that I use to create this episode.
00:27:33
Speaker
Now, if you want to support the show, like The Lovely Trees, head over to patreon.com slash digging up ancient aliens, or head over to digging up ancient aliens dot.com slash support and sign up through the membership portal there.
00:27:49
Speaker
You will get bonus episodes, you get extended episodes and well, you can even leave suggestions depending on your tier and a lot of and extra stuff. There's ad free episode. There's a lot of stuff there.
00:28:04
Speaker
And I also want you to go over to the archaeologicalpodcastnetwork.com, where you find many more creations and good archaeology shows. And as I said, go and check out Real Archaeology over at real-archaeology.com.
00:28:23
Speaker
that you can find more information about the upcoming event on the 25th to 27th October. And if you want to contact me, you can find my email on the website or just head over to Facebook, X, Twitter, whatever it's called at this point, TikTok. And I've been a bit slow on all social media sites and recently and It is, I've unfortunately we've been struggling with a bit of mental health crisis at the moment, but I'm getting back there. I will just try to push things out again. But yeah, it's been a bit much recently, but
00:29:06
Speaker
Yeah, I'm feeling better now. But I can't close out this episode until I have mentioned who has created the music. That's Sandra Martelor, who created InterMusic, and our outro is by the amazing band called Traskur, who is currently on tour throughout, well, Sweden, if you're here.
00:29:27
Speaker
make sure to go and catch them. They're playing with one of my favorite bands called Varnojel, but they're singing fully hot. Links to these artists can be found in the show notes. Until next time, keep shouting that silence.