ATLANTIS IN THE CARIBBEAN

Sykes believed that Atlanteans stored treasures in their temples, and that Murias, the city near Bimini, was once the home of the delicately carved, life-size crystal skull which Anna Mitchell-Hedges found in 1927 beneath a Mayan altar under the ruins of a temple in Belize. Quartz crystal was a common stone in volcanic Atlantis, so it is quite possible that Atlanteans carved the skull. Since carbon-14 dating does not test quartz, the age of the skulls is undetermined, but after thoroughly studying it, scientists at the California laboratories of Hewlett-Packard concluded that the people who made the skull were from a civilization that possessed a crystallographic ability equivalent to ours. Scientists who examined the crystal skull under powerful microscopes found no scratches to indicate it was carved with metal instruments. Diamond-tipped tools are a possibility, or a rock-dissolving paste. Frank Dorland, one of the foremost art restorers in the United States, studied and worked with crystals and the skull for over six years. He concluded that, even with the advanced technology we enjoy today, it would be nearly impossible to re-create the unique head. Dorland estimates it required at least 300 years of constant man-labor, or six men working for 50 years, to grind the skull from a solid block of pure quartz.

The crystal skull is strikingly beautiful, with its movable lower jaw and a network of prisms, lenses, and light-pipes which give life to the face and eyes. The realistic object exhibits strange faculties. Sensitive people sometimes see an aura around it; others sense a sweet-sour odor. At times it seems to produce sounds like tinkling bells or a faint choir of human voices, and its power assists sensitive persons in healing and prophecy. Crystal provides additional insight in meditation for, just as it acts as an amplifier as well as a receiver for radio waves, so it affects the energy generated by thought waves. Sykes thought the crystal skull was not the only Atlantean treasure in the Bimini area and that other precious objects are hidden in nearby caves now under the Sea.