Today 12 mythical ancient crystal skulls are displayed by museums and revered by New-Age writers. Fashioned from blocks of clear quartz crystal, these human-like skulls have been described by collectors as Mesoamerican masterpieces. Diehard believers claim these marvels linked to Aztec and Mayan civilizations wield strange, paranormal powers.

There's just one hitch: They are all fakes, say experts.

"I want to believe." That's how Justin Jennings, associate curator of New World archeology, felt when a crystal skull was bequeathed to Toronto's Royal Ontario Museum in 2007. Yet it, like the other mysterious skulls in museums and private collections, proved inauthentic.

"There's no way to directly date these skulls," says Jennings. "With ceramics it's easier. We can use thermoluminescence dating to figure out when a ceramic was fired."

Accurate to within 400 years, thermoluminescence determines dates of origin by measuring the most recent instance an artifact was heated to a temperature exceeding 500° Celsius. But as Jennings say, "You can't do that with rock crystal."

Washington's Smithsonian Institution, which houses one famed skull, is reportedly trying to determine if this very rare, pure crystal is common to Mexico. "That may nail these skulls down to a date," says Jennings. Until then crystal skull believers can imagine what they want about these enigmatic artifacts and their legendary powers.

The world's real crystal skulls capture modern man's imagination

"Indy 4's" Crystal Skull of Akator is pure fiction. But the world's real crystal skulls all have equally fantastic tales to tell.

The most famous fake is the Mitchell-Hedges crystal skull. In 1924 F.A. Mitchell-Hedges, a British banker-turned adventurer led an expedition deep into the Central American jungle. Accompanied by his daughter, Anna, the girl found the skull on her 17th birthday in the temple ruins her father was excavating.

Strange events surrounded the discovery. Anna dreamed of the Mayans, including their grisly human sacrifices, whenever the skull was by her bedside. She also had strange sensations each time she touched the quartz skull.

Other crystal skulls surfaced after this discovery. Some claimed they came from Atlantis and were crafted by aliens. Others believed they possessed healing powers and could predict the future. Many also believed that uniting the world's lost crystal skulls would create a massive computer able to reveal the mysteries of the universe.

Mitchell-Hedges staunchly claimed his artifact was 3,600-years-old. "Supposedly it belonged to a Mayan priest and could wield the power of death," says Jennings. "Its power has also been thought to crash computer hard drives. But there's no proof of that."

Decades later documents surfaced that seemed to prove Mitchell-Hedges' skull had been purchased at a London auction house.

Fabulous fakes around the world

Over the past decade experts voiced serious doubts over the Aztec origin of the world's surviving crystal skulls, one of which is in the British Museum, another at Paris' Quai Branly Museum.

The London skull was examined in 1996 and 2004. Both studies tended to prove it was fake.

The Paris skull is marked by grooves and perforations that, Quai Branly specialists say, indicate the use of "jewellery burrs and other modern tools" that could never have been found in pre-Columbian art." The term describes the period before Christopher Columbus arrived in 1492 with the first wave of Europeans.

Both skulls once belonged to Eugene Boban, a controversial 19th century Parisian antiquities dealer. He knowingly sold the skulls as fakes in the 1870s.

Crystal skull mythology thrived in 19th century Europe

"There was a time in 19th century Europe when Mexico was a big fad," says Jennings. "Anthropology was beginning. Britain, France and the Dutch were working within colonial empires and trying to understand how they fit into a broader context. Suddenly a huge market for Mesoamerican art emerged with no artifacts to fill it."

The crystal skulls filled that niche and fuelled collectors' imaginations. "The stories surrounding them have no basis in legends written down by the Aztecs," says Jennings. The tales also changed from one culture to another. That, says Jennings, has more to do with the 20th century's New-Age movement than historical fact.

"If people want to believe these skulls have magical powers they will," says Jennings. However if "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of The Crystal Skull" helps make audiences more interested in Aztec culture that's fine with Jennings.

"These skulls are all probably a lot of hokum," says Jennings. "But if this new movie makes people think more about Central American art that's fantastic."

Crystal skull trivia

• According to legend a Mayan priest brought two famous crystal skulls to the United States: The Mayan Crystal Skull and the Amethyst Skull.
• "Max" is the nickname of one well-known crystal skull. Reportedly given to woman in Houston, Texas by a Tibetan monk, the skull itself revealed its name to the new owner.
• "E.T." is the name of another privately-owned crystal skull. The artifact has a pointed head an exaggerated overbite. Its appearance resembled that of an alien.
• Crystal skull believers say these artifacts contain mysterious psychic energy. They can be used to cast spells, conjure spirits, cure illness and predict the future.
• The mythical Mitchell-Hedges crystal skull shows no signs of any carving. Guessing that diamonds were used to create it, researchers estimated it would take more than 300 years of man-hours to complete such a task.