Crystal Skulls: Difference between revisions
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=Origin= | =Origin= | ||
None of the known skulls are actually from a documented archaeological site. <ref name="Walsh">Walsh, Jane MacLaren. "Legend of the Crystal Skulls." Archaeology 61.3 (2008): 36-41.</ref> | None of the known skulls are actually from a documented archaeological site. The first known crystal skull was obtained by the British Museum in 1856 by Henry Christy. At this time there was little known about pre-Columbian artifacts in Mexico and as observed by Smithsonian archaeologist, W. H. Holmes, in 1884 there was an abundance of fake artifacts being sold in Mexico at the time. In 1867 two more crystal skulls surfaced at the Exposition Universelle in Paris. Mexico City purchased two crystal skulls; one in 1874 and another in 1886. These skulls were the original crystal skulls.<ref name="Walsh">Walsh, Jane MacLaren. "Legend of the Crystal Skulls." Archaeology 61.3 (2008): 36-41.</ref> | ||
=Pseudoarchaeological Impact= | =Pseudoarchaeological Impact= | ||
Revision as of 08:55, 1 December 2017
The crystal skulls are a particularly notable example of the popularization of pseudoarcheological ideas. Some believe the skulls to be of Aztec or Mayan origin, while others think them to be from Atlantis or outer space. [1]
Origin
None of the known skulls are actually from a documented archaeological site. The first known crystal skull was obtained by the British Museum in 1856 by Henry Christy. At this time there was little known about pre-Columbian artifacts in Mexico and as observed by Smithsonian archaeologist, W. H. Holmes, in 1884 there was an abundance of fake artifacts being sold in Mexico at the time. In 1867 two more crystal skulls surfaced at the Exposition Universelle in Paris. Mexico City purchased two crystal skulls; one in 1874 and another in 1886. These skulls were the original crystal skulls.[1]
Pseudoarchaeological Impact
The popularity of these crystal skulls has greatly increased due to their inclusion in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls. The popular movie depicts the skulls as belonging to aliens which is a notion deeply rooted in pseudo archaeological thought. [1]
Tied to Atlantis and also aliens
supernatural powers
pop culture and Indiana Jones
Scientific Disproof
Electron Microscope analysis reveal modern tool marks
probs mid to late 1800s
crystal from Brazil or Madagascar and manufactured in Germany
no similar artifacts on real archaeological excavations