A supposedly Aztec crystal skull, beloved of New Agers, has been exposed as a 19th-century German fake, says a report in today's Independent.
The British Museum's skull, one of several which persons of paranormal persuasions are inclined to see as baffling mysteries rather than pretty objets d'art, was previously believed to have been carved by pre-Columbian Aztec stoneworkers. Recent research instead suggests it was made using the kind of rotating wheel used by 19th-century jewellers, but not common in the valley of Mexico before the arrival of the Spaniards. The crystal itself, say the scientists, is probably Brazilian.
This will come as a great disappointment to such intrepid seekers after truth as the "crystal skull explorers", who attribute a range of magic powers to the skulls. Another ancient prophecy holds that there are 13 magical skulls which, when finally brought together, will ... do something or other. But something dead good.
If that it is true, the British Museum skull probably isn't one of them. Damn those spoilsport boffins.
