"13 crystal skulls picture" in Crystal Skulls Pictures.
13 crystal skulls picture
Description: The background to much of this can be read in the well researched book 'The Mystery of the Crystal Skulls' by Chris Morton and Ceri Louise Thomas - who produced the BBC documentary. Now a decade later, however, much of the interest in this intriguing story appears to have died away.
The BM still needs to identify categorically the source of the rock crystal, thought to be from Brazil (Click on image to enlarge)
2007 Update: On August 16th. 2007, Margaret Sax, a Special Assistant in the BM Conservation Department, gave a Gallery Talk on the crystal skull, presenting fresh archival and scientific research on the story. The main conclusions?
• The standard of carving on the skull is not particularly high at all
• Recent tests using scanning electron microscopy reveal that the teeth and mouth were definitely cut with a (metal) wheel charged with an abrasive (and it's very likely the face was too)
• Though we know that hand drills were used in pre-Columbian times, there's no evidence at all that wheels were employed
• It's highly probably that the skull was carved with a 19th century German lathe
• Rock crystal from Brazil - which became popular in Germany for carving crystal balls and other ephemera - only became available in the quantities/sizes needed to carve this skull around 1875
• Boban obtained the skull, probably in Europe, between 1878 and 1881
• He was denounced in Mexico when he tried to sell the skull to the National Museum (see above) and had to flee to the USA...
The BM still needs to identify categorically the source of the rock crystal, thought to be from Brazil (Click on image to enlarge)
2007 Update: On August 16th. 2007, Margaret Sax, a Special Assistant in the BM Conservation Department, gave a Gallery Talk on the crystal skull, presenting fresh archival and scientific research on the story. The main conclusions?
• The standard of carving on the skull is not particularly high at all
• Recent tests using scanning electron microscopy reveal that the teeth and mouth were definitely cut with a (metal) wheel charged with an abrasive (and it's very likely the face was too)
• Though we know that hand drills were used in pre-Columbian times, there's no evidence at all that wheels were employed
• It's highly probably that the skull was carved with a 19th century German lathe
• Rock crystal from Brazil - which became popular in Germany for carving crystal balls and other ephemera - only became available in the quantities/sizes needed to carve this skull around 1875
• Boban obtained the skull, probably in Europe, between 1878 and 1881
• He was denounced in Mexico when he tried to sell the skull to the National Museum (see above) and had to flee to the USA...
