Hand engraved agate skulls from Mexico.

The crystal skulls are works of art cut from quartz or rock crystal in the shape of human skulls. These emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century and were originally assigned to various pre-Columbian civilizations. Research in the 1990s, including using a scanning tunneling microscope, showed that at least some of these skulls are forgeries. These were made with grinding instruments that were only developed in the second half of the nineteenth century. There is a strong suspicion that a number of the crystal skulls were commissioned by the French trader Eugène Boban and sold by him. One of the best-known skulls is the Mitchell-Hedges skull. This was said to have been found by the British adventurer F. A. Mitchell-Hedges in a chamber beneath the ruins of Lubaantun in Belize. It later turned out that he had bought this skull privately at the London auction house Sotheby's. His wife gave the reason that he had only given the skull to someone as collateral and had bought it back through Sotheby's. After the death of Anna Mitchell-Hedges, the skull came into the possession of Bill Homann. In the 1990s it turned out that the Mitchell-Hedges skull was also a forgery. In the meantime, a lot of hype and legends have arisen around the crystal skulls. Due to their alleged location, they were supposedly manufactured centuries ago by the Mayans, the Aztecs or an even older pre-Columbian civilization. These are also said to have paranormal gifts and you should never look them straight in the eye. According to another legend, they are said to have an extraterrestrial origin. There are said to be thirteen of them on Earth. Once reunited, they would share their knowledge with humanity. Even today, skulls still play a role in part of the New Age community.