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With a fabled 'Crystal Skull' being the central enigma in the new Steven Spielberg film: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull the Crystal Skull held at the British Museum in London is generating a great deal of interest...

What exactly is it?

A life-size carving of a human skull made from a single block of rock crystal (a clear, colourless variety of quartz). It was acquired by the Museum in 1897 purporting to be an ancient Mexican object. However scientific research conducted by the Museum has established that the skull was most likely produced in the 19th century in Europe. As such the object is not an authentic pre-Columbian artefact.

How did it enter the collection at the British Museum?

The skull was purchased by the Museum from Tiffany and Co, New York in 1897. At the time of its purchase, the skull was said to have been brought from Mexico by a Spanish officer before the French occupation (in 1863). It was sold to an English collector and acquired at his death by Eugène Boban, a French antiquities dealer, later becoming the property of Tiffany and Co. The skull was exhibited for many years at the Museum of Mankind in Piccadilly - which at that time housed the British Museum’s Ethnographic collection - it is currently on permanent display at the British Museum in the Wellcome Trust Gallery (room 24).

What scientific research has been undertaken?

The British Museum examined the skull several times between 1950 and 1990. In 1996 an on-going collaborative project focusing on the British Museum’s skull and a skull in the collection of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC was started. Contrary to popular belief there are currently no scientific techniques which can be used to accurately establish when a stone or mineral object was produced.

Research has therefore focused on how the skulls were carved, where the quartz originated from and what is known about the early history of the skulls. Observations made under a binocular microscope and in a scanning electron microscope suggest that the techniques of carving used to produce the skulls post-dated the Aztec period. The tool marks on the skulls do not match those on other Aztec period rock-crystal objects, which were invariably carved by hand.

It is most likely that the British Museum skull was worked with a rotary wheel (or jeweller’s wheel), which was unknown in the Americas before the arrival of the Europeans. The research also suggests that the rock crystal used in the manufacture of the British Museum’s skull may have come from Brazil, an area outside of the ancient trade network of Mexico.

Do other examples exist?

There is a larger white quartz skull in the collection of the Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC and a number of other large skulls in private ownership. There are also a number of smaller rock crystal skulls. It seems highly unlikely that any are genuine Aztec objects.

Large rock crystal skulls first began to surface in public and private collections, during the second half of the nineteenth century, and an increasing number of large and small quartz skulls have become known in recent decades, mostly in private hands. However, no such skull has ever been reported from well-documented official archaeological excavation. Archival research has, in addition, produced a link between the British Museum’s skull and another rock crystal skull (in the Musée du Quai Branly, Paris). Both skulls passed through the hands of the French dealer Eugène Boban, raising suspicions regarding their provenance.

Why were the skulls produced?

It is impossible to be sure why the skulls were produced. It maybe that they were produced to satisfy demand in the US and Europe in the nineteenth century when interest in collecting Mexican material was at its height.

Are there any genuine Aztec crystal skulls?

It seems unlikely, since no quartz crystal skull has ever been found on any of the many well-documented official archaeological excavations of ancient sites.

Did the Aztecs make these kinds of objects?

Skulls and skull imagery feature in Aztec art at the time of the first contact with the Spanish in 1519. However they were usually carved in relief in basalt as architectural elements rather than produced in rock crystal or white quartz.

Do they have special powers?

There are some who claim that crystal skulls have healing qualities, emit energy, have the ability to convey vital information or are repositories of ancient wisdom. Large quartz crystal skulls have generated great interest and fascination since they began to surface in public and private collections during the second half of the nineteenth century. The British Museum views the skull in its collection as an enigmatic object of great interest but with no supernatural properties.

What is the British Museum’s response to the new movie?

The British Museum has issued a statement in response to the new Indianna Jones movie - and the renewed interest in the crystal skull in its possession that this may very well engender: "As entertainment the movie will surely appeal to the public, but it is very much a work of fiction. We hope, however, that it will encourage visitors to see the skull at the British Museum and to learn more about Aztec culture."

Click here for more information about the crystal skull at the British Museum.

The British Museum can be found in High Holborn. The main entrance (reached by a series of steps, though there are lifts available for those using wheelchairs, buggies and prams) is on Great Russell Street but there is an alternative (level) entrance on Montague Place. The nearest tube station is Holborn (Central line and Piccadilly line). Besides the impressive Crystal Skull the museum - of course - also houses a vast collection of world art and artefacts and is free to all visitors. Charges are made for some special exhibitions.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is set to be released worldwide 22 May.

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