There are very few archaeological artifacts that have been able to excite the popular imagination more than crystal skulls. These beautiful and lifelike skulls are believed to be the handiwork of South and Central American civilizations such as the Mayans or the Aztecs. These crystal artifacts come in two broad categories. The first to appear in popular consciousness were the smaller bead sized skulls, and they were followed by the discovery of the life sized ones that happened towards the end of the 19th century.

While the archeological community is not very convinced as to the authenticity of these objects as genuine pre-Columbian religious relics, they are the subject of intense speculation by New Age devotees. Many believers have absolute faith in the healing properties of these relics and are convinced that they can produce miracles. There have been many wild claims made about the magical and miraculous properties of these skulls, including that they cure diseases and help look into the future.

These New Age devotees passionately believe that while these crystal skulls were discovered in various parts of South and Central America, they were actually left there by aliens. Many people also believe that they are the last surviving relics of the lost civilization, Atlantis, which explains their ability to exhibit paranormal phenomena.

Crystal skulls have been the subject of scholarly debate for a long time, ever since they first appeared into public consciousness when Europeans started to travel very frequently in South America. These skulls, both large and small, started to appear with startling regularity and they were eagerly grabbed by avid collectors. Many of them eventually found their way to museums where they were given pride of place as genuine artifacts. They were astonishingly lifelike and very well executed.

What gave rise to a lot of suspicions was that not a single one of these crystal skulls was collected at a documented excavation, but were picked up by amateur collectors during their searches. These skulls also do not share any technical or stylistic relationship with the ones already existing in other per-Columbian depictions of skulls; and there are many such depictions to choose from since this was a very popular motif in most cultures from South and Central America.

The other thing that was a giveaway was that they were too well executed to be genuine. If you consider that artisans in those days did not have sophisticated tools at their disposal and used stone, bone and wooden tools in order to execute their carvings, these skulls are just too well made to be genuine. The artisan could not possibly get the crystals to be so well carved and smooth by using the tools they had.

This led archaeologists to the conclusion that these skulls were all forgeries made in Europe in order to satisfy the demand for exotic collectibles.

Firm believers still do not buy these arguments and they continue to believe in the miracle working abilities of these beautiful and intriguing crystal skulls.

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Category: Culture
Keywords: skulls, crystal skulls, New Age, paranormal, aliens, Atlantis