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A 12,000 year old quartz crystal skull, which is believed to be an artifact from the Lost Continent of Atlantis, can heal the terminally ill.

So claimed Anna Mitchell-Hedges to Weekly World News, before her passing in 2007.

Many are familiar with crystal skulls from the most recent Indiana Jones films, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. But few know they are based on a real artifact!

“This is truly a remarkable relic from a very ancient time in the world’s history,” said 81 year old Anna Mitchell-Hedges in 1993.

“It has absolutely incredible properties – properties for which, seemingly, there is no scientific explanation.

“In the more than half-century it’s been in my possession, time and time again I have watched in awe as the energy that apparently radiates from the skull has healed individuals who say they are terminally ill or permanently disabled.

“Among those who just want to touch the skull and meditate, some say they can feel its power surging right through their bodies – and they even catch glimpses of the future.”

The life-size skull, carved from quartz crystal, was discovered by Anna in 1921 while she and her adventurer father, F.A. Mitchell-Hedges, were excavating the ruins of the 1,500-year-old Mayan center of Lubaantun in Central America.


“I’ll never forget that magical moment when I first saw this awe-inspiring antique shimmering in the moonlight,” Anna said.

“I found it under a Mayan alter that had been covered by a collapsed wall. I was particularly struck by the fact that the lower jaw is movable. My father believed the Mayans may have used it as an oracle.”

However, he was also convinced that the Mayan hands had not fashioned the artifact, because such a detailed sculpture would require diamond tipped tools, since diamonds are the only material that can carve quartz crystal.

“And those kinds of tools just didn’t exist in that day and age,” Anna explained.

“Naturally, there are some skeptics who claim the skull is a fake,” she continued, “but scientists at the California labs of Hewlitt-Packard have estimated it’s about 12,000 years old.

“Now, the only advanced civilization we know of that may have existed that long ago is the fabled Lost Continent of Atlantis. This lost continent reportedly extended almost to the coast of Central America.”


After Ms. Mitchell-Hedges passed away in 2007, her friend Bill Homann inherited the skull. This past April,  the Smithsonian Institution examined it and also established it was made with tools the Mayans did not have. However, this led to their conclusion that it was made in late 1800s, rather than by a much earlier civilization.

There are additional theories about the skull, most prominently that they were either created by aliens or an ancient culture was shown how to create them by aliens.

Giorgio A. Tsoukalos, a proponent of ancient alien contact, discusses his take on the crystal skulls:

Bill Homann remains convinced of its authenticity. He is committed to building a museum in honor of the Mitchell-Hedges in Sedona, Arizona.