# History Channel and Crystal Skulls **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 19, 2008, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-channel-and-crystal-skulls/449820 "2008-05-19T06:27:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Internut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5daacb/32.png) [@Internut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Internut)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-channel-and-crystal-skulls/449820/61 "2008-05-21T07:57:54Z")
[QUOTE=gonzomax] History also shows “the Universe” . Another very good show. When you find programs you do not like do not damn the whole network. Address the programs you do not like. There are lots of interesting programs on the History Channel. [/QUOTE] The study of history is the study of the past.. Not psudoscience and mumbo jumbo explained by “experts” carrying around magic crystal balls. Put one unemployed nutjob wandering with her crystal skull on the HISTORY CHANNEL (for a fee she’ll stop in your living room and let you touch it) and you completely put into question anything that the channel puts up as historical fact. Hm, that’s what happened in WWII Germany? No.. can’t be true.. Its like that crazy lady with the skull made of crystal they had on last week.. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-channel-and-crystal-skulls/449820/62 "2008-05-21T09:55:13Z")
dupe ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-channel-and-crystal-skulls/449820/63 "2008-05-21T09:56:56Z")
[QUOTE=overlyverbose] This used to piss me off to no end. I haven’t been contacted by anyone as well-known as the History Channel; however, when I was a full-time freelance writer, I was constantly contacted by people who wanted me to write their memoirs for free because they were sure it would be a bestseller and I’d get all kinds of recognition. [/QUOTE] I’ve gotten several offers of the “okay, I’ve got this great idea for a story… I’ll tell it to you, you work it into a book, and we’ll split the money 50/50!”. Surprisingly they have come from people who really are seemingly intelligent otherwise but act like “turn my disjointed ramblings into a book without plot holes and with flow and exposition and narrative and all- you ought to be able to do that by Thursday wouldn’t you think? Cause I mean the plot’s already thought up and that’s the hard part” is a reasonable and inoffensive offer. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-channel-and-crystal-skulls/449820/64 "2008-05-21T12:01:41Z")
Seriously, does anybody know the origin of these crystal skulls? i heard they were made in italy (probably venice) in the 17th century. Why were they made? And, for what purpose? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-channel-and-crystal-skulls/449820/65 "2008-05-21T12:11:33Z")
> [@](#): > > Seriously, does anybody know the origin of these crystal skulls? i heard they were made in italy (probably venice) in the 17th century. Why were they made? And, for what purpose? I believe that Skeptical Inquirer had an article about them not that long ago. They believed they were modern , which I took to mean more recent that the 17th century. But I don’t know that anyone has or could identify precisely when they were made. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Weird\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@The\_Weird\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Weird_One)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-channel-and-crystal-skulls/449820/66 "2008-05-21T13:26:48Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] I believe that Skeptical Inquirer had an article about them not that long ago. They believed they were modern , which I took to mean more recent that the 17th century. But I don’t know that anyone has or could identify precisely when they were made. [/QUOTE] I heard a story addressing that issue on NPR the other day… ah, [here](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90483164) it is. (link has a transcription of the story, as well as a link to the audio) > [@NPR](#): > > One thing the scientists have figured out is that the British Museum’s skull came from Boban, that mysterious French collector. In the late 1800s, he first described it as a piece of artwork. Then he began calling it an Aztec artifact, in an attempt, Sax says, to make it “more appealing in order to sell it.” Unfortunately, the story doesn’t narrow the date down beyond “post-Columbian” and “late 1800s.” ---
**Author:** ![Internut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5daacb/32.png) [@Internut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Internut)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-channel-and-crystal-skulls/449820/67 "2008-05-22T03:13:14Z")
I remember reading (Don’t know if it was the wiki article or if it was somewhere else) that they believe some, if not all, of the most famous skulls originated in Germany in the mid to late 1800s… How they came to this conclusion I do not know (maybe craftsmanship, material, etc…) ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-channel-and-crystal-skulls/449820/68 "2008-05-22T03:42:32Z")
[QUOTE=Sampiro] I’ve gotten several offers of the “okay, I’ve got this great idea for a story… I’ll tell it to you, you work it into a book, and we’ll split the money 50/50!”. [/QUOTE] How about if I just give you a rough idea and you cut me in for 10%? No? A hint and 5%? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Internut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5daacb/32.png) [@Internut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Internut)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-channel-and-crystal-skulls/449820/69 "2008-05-22T08:57:39Z")
I’ll just say I’m vaguely interested in whatever you’ll write about and I’ll rant about it even though I probably know little on the subject while you try and type for 4%. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/history-channel-and-crystal-skulls/449820.md?page=3)