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the Cannes Film Festival of "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal
Skull" -- the fourth installment in Harrison Ford's archaeologist's
adventures since the 1981 blockbuster "Raiders of the Lost Ark".
While the plot of the latest archeological epic by Stephen Spielberg and
George Lucas remains a tightly-guarded secret, bets are the Indiana Jones
movie will mirror Aztec beliefs surrounding the skulls.
Legend has it that the Paris skull represents the Aztecs' Mictlantecuhtli,
who reigned over the land of the deceased, Mictlan. Reuniting all 12
existing skulls plus a supposed-to-exist 13th could prevent the earth from
tipping over, according to fable.
In a statement Friday, the Quai Branly said results of an analysis of its
skull in 2007-2008 by the country's C2RMF research and restoration centre
"seem to indicate that it was made late in the 19th century."
Over the past decade experts had voiced growing doubts over the Aztec origin
of the crystal skulls, one of which is in the British Museum, another at
Washington's Smithsonian Institute.
The London skull was examined twice, in 1996 and 2004, and both studies
tended to prove it was a fake, though the final conclusions have not been
made public.
Fashioned in clear quartz crystal and 11 centimetres (4.4 inches) high, the
Paris skull is marked by grooves and perforations that "reveal the use of
jewellery burrs and other modern tools," the museum said.
"Never has such technical precision been found in pre-Colombian art."
C2RMF engineers Thomas Calligaro and Yvan Coquinot told AFP that three
months of analysis of the skull highlighted that the piece "is certainly not
pre-Columbian, it shows traces of polishing and abrasion by modern tools."
Analysis by a particle accelerator had also shown traces of water dating
from the 19th century, they said.
Like the London skull, the Paris piece was once in the hands of Eugene
Boban, a controversial Paris dealer in archaeological objects believed to be
well aware of the production of fake antiquities.
But though no crystal skull yet found at archaeological digs has proved to
be authentic, the 12 located around the world continue to arouse interest
and speculation.
Apart from the Paris, London and Smithsonian skulls, nine belong to private
individuals -- the skull of destiny, the Sha-Na-Ra skull, the synergy skull,
the Max skull, the Maya skull, a so-called E.T. skull, the amethyst skull,
the reliquary cross skull and the pink crystal skull.
Each skull was supposed to correspond to 12 worlds in which human life was
present. They were brought by the Itza, the ancient people of Atlantis, to
their civilisation in order to pass on their knowledge to man.
The 13th world, the land, also had its own crystal skull, and all 13 skulls
were kept in a great pyramid by the Olmecs, the Mayas and ultimately the
Aztecs.
The Aztecs are said to have been responsible for the dispersal and loss of
the skulls, which when brought together possessed great powers, including
being lined up on the last day of the Maya calendar -- December 21, 2012 --
to prevent the earth from tipping over.

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