CRYSTAL SKULLS HISTORY

Key Moments in crystal skulls History
in the last 300 years

The history of crystal skulls remains somewhat of a mystery, but new information keeps coming to light. Crystal Skull Explorer Joshua Shapiro provides the following crystal skull history timeline as recorded in his 2004-5 Crystal Skull Explorers ebook (This crystal skull history willl be updated in the new printed edition in 2008)

18th Century

Early 1700’s : A Monk near Luv, Russia, while taking his daily walk notices a large rose quartz skull sticking out of a mound. Contained within this mound are a number of artifacts that are linked to the ancient Scythians, a people who lived in Russia over 1000 years ago. (Author’s Note: This is one of the skulls that is in the hands of Ms. Joky van Dieten, called the “Luv” skull).

Late 1700’s: A blind craftsman works with a local Shaman in the Amazon to fashion a human-size crystal skull from a large block of quartz. It is perceived that some spiritual entity of unknown origin is present within this skull. (Author’s Note: this skull becomes known “Windsong”, the caretaker is Floyd Petri).

19th Century

1840’s: The Redo family acquires a small crystal skull that includes a Christian Cross made from Gold and Quartz. This Cross is inserted into a circular opening at the top of the skull. The Crystal Cross shows a date of 1571 that is engraved upon it. The family received this skull either through a local Church or it was purchased.

1860’s-1880’s: Eugéne Boban works in Mexico (1862-1867) during the French Occupation and is appointed as the French Scientific Commission underneath Emperor Maximillan. It is suspected that at this time he begins to acquire some crystal skulls either found in various Mesoamerican ruins or has contacts with local skilled carvers. It is believed that the two crystal skulls that became known as the Paris and British Museum Crystal Skulls (in the Musèe de l’homme located in Paris and the British Museum in London) were acquired by Boban and were eventually sold to various individuals later during this period.

1876-1910: It is reported that President Porfirio Diaz of Mexico has a collection of crystal skulls on his desk. Two of the skulls that are purportedly a part of his collection are claimed to be an amethyst crystal skull (later to be known as ”Ami”) and possibly a large hollow Crystal Skull that was later sent to the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. in 1995.

1878: Alphonse Pinart donates a clear crystal skull to Musèe de l’homme (Trocadero Museum) in Paris. He reports that he purchased this skull through Eugéne Boban.

1881: Inside of Boban’s catalogue of goods for sale for this year, he lists a human-size crystal skull (it is suspected that this is the British Museum Crystal Skull).

1886: A Mr. Ellis is reported in a New York City newspaper to have bought a large crystal skull from Boban. (Again suspected to be the British Museum Crystal Skull)

1890: In a book published by George Frederick Kunz, Gems and Precious Stones , he mentions both the Paris and British Museum Crystal Skulls. It is the first time a crystal skull is seriously discussed in a published book. This book states that a Mr. George Sission of New York City is in possession of a human size crystal skull (is this the British Museum Skull?).

1897-1898: Tiffany & Co., a New York based jeweler, sells a large crystal skull to the British Museum (London) for £120, who places it on display in January of 1898.

20th – 21st Century

1906: While a Mayan family is digging on their property (somewhere in Guatemala), a shovel strikes a hard object in the ground. It turns out that they have uncovered a human-sized crystal skull that is made from smoky quartz which is slightly different than our own human skull. (Author’s Note: This skull becomes known later as “ET” after it is procured by Ms. van Dieten.)

1910: As various local priests are assisting a team of archaeologists in the Mayan site of Copan, one of them uncovers a clear quartz crystal skull and hides this skull from the head of this team. This skull is then used to cure a plague for a local Mayan village.

(Author’s Note: This information was given by a Mexican Priest named Francisco Reyes who was responsible for bringing to the U.S. both this crystal skull {which becomes known later as the “Mayan Crystal Skull” during three months of research conducted by crystal skull researcher, F. R. ’Nick’ Nocerino} and “Ami”, the amethyst crystal skull.)

1910: The Mexican Revolution removes President Diaz, it is reported that “Ami”, the amethyst skull becomes the property of the “Lascurian” family in Mexico.

1923-1927: During the expedition led by British explorer, F. A. Mitchell-Hedges, to the Mayan ruins called Lubaantún (“City of Fallen Stones”) in Belize, his adopted daughter Anna discovers a hidden chamber inside of a pyramid structure where a clear quartz skull is discovered on January 1 st, 1924. (Author’s Note: This crystal skull is later called the “Mitchell-Hedges Crystal Skull” in honor of the leader of this expedition.)

1924-1926: A large 18 lb. (8.17 kg) crystal skull is found in a Mayan tomb in Guatemala and is safeguarded by the local people. (Author’s Note: This crystal skull later resurfaces with a Tibetan trained red hat Lama and becomes known as “MAX”.)

1936: In July, published in MAN, a monthly publication of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, contains an article comparing the form and appearance of the “Burney” Crystal Skull (Author’s Note: This is the Mitchell-Hedges Skull but is being held as collateral by Sydney Burney, a lawyer and antiquities collector) to the “British Museum Crystal Skull”. Contributors to this article are Dr. G.M. Morant (a well known anthropologist) and two officers from the British Museum, Adrian Digby and H. J. Braunholtz.

1942: Jose Iniquez, age 17, discovers two crystal skulls in a Mayan ruin during a field trip from his class. His teacher lets him keep the small clear quartz skull.

1943-1944: Mr. Burney puts the “Burney’s Skull” up for auction at Sotheby’s in London. No one meets his price. F. A. Mitchell-Hedges buys the skull in the early part of 1944 for £400.

1944: The Magazine, “The Shadow” has an image of a Crystal Skull on the cover and an article entitled: “The Mystery of the Crystal Skull”.

1944-1945: Establishment of the Crystal Skull Society International in the states of New York and California by F. R. ‘Nick’ Nocerino. This is the first research society to be formed to specifically investigate the subject of the crystal skulls.

1954: 1 st Edition of F. A. Mitchell-Hedges autobiography, Danger My Ally is published In England.

1959: F. A. Mitchell-Hedges passes on and his daughter, Anna Mitchell-Hedges inherits the crystal skull. (Author’s Note: It is said Mr. Mitchell-Hedges asked for the crystal skull to be buried with him but Anna chose not to do so.)

1964-1970: Frank and Mabel Dorland (California), art conservators, meet Anna Mitchell-Hedges in New York City (1964). Ms. Mitchell-Hedges decides to give the crystal skull to Mr. Dorland for research. Frank Dorland conducts various tests in this six-year period with the crystal skull which are later reported in various books. He keeps the skull in his home and in a bank vault. He works with a number of different psychics to collect more information about the skull and is visited by numerous people that wish to experience this crystal skull, some of whom are very famous.

1970: Frank Dorland and author/journalist Richard Garvin bring the Mitchell-Hedges Crystal Skull to Hewlett Packard in California to allow scientists to do various experiments upon this crystal skull.

1971: In the February issue of “Measure”, Hewlett Packard’s company-wide newsletter, appears a report of the research conducted upon the Mitchell-Hedges Crystal Skull.

Early 1970s(?): A Red Hat Lama, Norbu Chen, receives a large crystal skull (“MAX”) as a gift from a Mayan Shaman in Mexico. Later, he works with this crystal skull in tandem with other Tibetan Monks, in a healing center near Houston, Texas for helping people who have a serious health problem or illness.

1972-1973: The Mitchell-Hedges Crystal Skull is on display at the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation. This museum also has on display other artifacts that were discovered by the Mitchell-Hedges expedition to Lubaantún.

1973: Publication of the book, The Crystal Skull by Richard Garvin. This book primarily reports about the Mitchell-Hedges crystal skull and the work and research performed by Frank Dorland. This is the first official book published that exclusively is devoted to the subject of the crystal skulls.

mid 1970’s: Frank Dorland begins to offer public lectures showing models of the Mitchell-Hedges Skull that he used during his personal research. There are a number of TV shows that discuss the Mitchell-Hedges Skull featuring Mr. Dorland (possibly this interest was generated through the publication of the Richard Garvin’s book).

1979: Francisco Reyes, the Mayan Priest, purchases “Ami”, the amethyst crystal skull from the “Lascurian” Family in Mexico.

1979: Hewlett Packard, located in California, conducts research with “Ami”, the amethyst crystal skull and the “Mayan Crystal Skull”. The skulls are brought there by John Zamora, the agent for Mr. Reyes, who has possession of both skulls at this time.

1980: John Zamora receives a loan from purportedly a lawyer in Texas and the “Mayan Crystal Skull” is used as collateral against this loan. The loan is never repaid and Mr. Reyes forfeits ownership of this crystal skull.

1980 : First public crystal skull lecture given by F. R. Nick Nocerino of the Crystal Skull Society International in California (USA).

1980 : The crystal skull known as “MAX” is left to Carl and JoAnn Parks of Houston, Texas at the passing of Norbu Chen.

1983: A group of nine businessmen (including Al Ramirez and Stan Chan) give to the agent John Zamora a sizeable loan and receive “Ami”, the amethyst crystal skull as collateral. The loan is not repaid within the agreed timeframe so this group takes ownership of the crystal skull in 1985.

1985: The publication of the book, the Skull Speaks through the Anna Mitchell-Hedges Research and Exploration Association. This book is information received by psychic Carole Davis while she is in a trance state in the presence of the Mitchell-Hedges Skull.

mid-1980’s: First major wave of contemporary crystal skulls created by various carvers (mostly in Brazil) surfaces for sale to the general public.

1986: Historic writer, reporter and author, Frank Joseph obtains from Frank Dorland, a cement model of the Mitchell-Hedges Crystal Skull. He works with Peggy C. Caldwell, a forensic anthropologist and forensic artist Detective Frank Domingo who are able to reconstruct the face of a young Indian-looking woman by using this model.

1986-1987: George, a European businessman, receives a large crystal skull from an elderly man in South America as a gift. (Author’s Note: This crystal skull is later known as “Synergy”.)

1988 : During this year are the first public appearances of “MAX”, the Texas Crystal Skull, throughout the western part of the U.S.

1989: The release of the book, Mysteries of the Crystal Skulls Revealed (MCSR) by co-authors Sandra Bowen, F. R. ‘Nick’ Nocerino and R. “Joshua” Shapiro. This book includes information about several ancient crystal skulls, research and spiritually channeled information.

1991: Joky van Dieten, living in Costa Rica, while reading the book MCSR discovers a crystal store near Los Angeles that is listed. She intuitively feels that she must call this store to find an ancient skull for sale. She is contacted several days later by the owner and they make an agreement for her to acquire a human-sized smoky quartz skull which eventually becomes known as the crystal skull, “ET”.

1992: Frank Dorland releases his book entitled Holy Ice. This book shares Mr. Dorland’s experiences and research with the Mitchell-Hedges Skull as well as a great deal of information about quartz crystals.

1992: The Wolf Song II Conference is held in Texas (USA). This conference is a vision of Grandmother Twylah of the Seneca Nation to provide a space for indigenous elders to meet and share their sacred traditions. At this second gathering, the crystal skull “MAX” is present. The skull is welcomed and honored by the various indigenous elders.

1993: Floyd Petri, while working as a federal U.S. CID agent in Austin, Texas is drawn to a video/crystal store there and discovers a human-sized crystal skull (“Windsong”).

1995: During an excavation of a Mayan site in the Guerro state of Mexico, F. R. ‘Nick” Nocerino psychically links to a crystal skull that is found underground in a hidden tomb (from the book by Morton and Thomas). This clear quartz skull asks to be called “Sha Na Ra.”

1995: DaEl Walker receives a clear quartz skull which he calls “Grandmother Rainbow” from one of his students in trade. Purportedly this crystal skull was given to this person’s grandfather from two priests in Guatemala.

1995: The Smithsonian Institute receives a large hollow crystal skull that is donated to their organization from an anonymous source through the normal mail.

Mid 1990’s : The next wave of contemporary crystal skulls being created by various modern carvers reaches the market. These crystal skulls are very precise and sophisticated related to their form and shape as compared to a human bone skull. This trend continues into the 21 st century.

1996 : A series of tests were conducted at the British Museum in London for the purpose of authenticated various crystal skulls believed to be quite old. A number of crystal skulls were brought to the museum to participate in these experiments. This research project is a joint effort conducted by the museum and works with a production team from the BBC. The Museum believes most of the crystal skulls tested were of more modern construction but also refused to make comments on two of the purportedly ancient crystal skulls.

1996: The BBC broadcasts a show entitled “The Mystery of the Crystal Skulls” on their Everyman series. This is the program that was produced by Morton and Thomas which also includes a report about the research conducted at the British Museum. This show is aired on the A&E cable channel in the U.S. in 1997.

1997: David Leslie buys a linen basket (a metal trunk) in England at a local market and discovers 5 months later it contains a clear quartz skull covered by a cloth. (Author’s Note: This crystal skull is later to be known as “Skully”.)

1997: Chris Morton and Ceri Louise Thomas publish a book based on the information and interviews gathered from their TV documentary which is given the same title as their program. This book is much more comprehensive than the documentary.

1998 : David Leslie publicly invites psychics or spiritual channelers in England to work and have contact with his crystal skull. The purpose of this invitation is to collect information about the skull’s history and purpose through a paranormal approach. He places numerous ads in several spiritually orientated publications and thousands of people respond. Over 400 private sessions are conducted with various individuals during the summer of this year.

2000+: Crystal Skull research is conducted on behalf of the World Mystery Research Center in the U.S. and Europe utilizing various ancient, old and contemporary crystal skulls and featuring a variety of different electronic devices

Within the last decdes, there are quite a number of newly discovered crystal skulls that have surfaced which are being considered ancient or old skulls. Also there are rumors and reports about other crystal skulls which are held in private hands that may soon be revealed to the public. There are far more (purportedly) ancient and old crystal skulls that are known today than the two or three that were publicly available during the early part of the 20th century. (see Shapiro's new updated book)

Science is catching up to the power of the crystal skulls.