Crystal skull that inspired new Indiana Jones film set for Scots exhibition
By Lynn Davidson
Source: www.dailyrecord.co.uk

A MYSTERIOUS crystal skull which inspired the latest Indiana Jones movie is to be displayed in Scotland.

The so-called Skull of Doom has been described by experts as "one of the most enigmatic artefacts in existence on this planet".

The adventurer who discovered it claims it was used by Mayan shamen and is 3600 years old.

Legend has it that 13 "lost" crystal skulls exist and must be found before December 21, 2012, or the Earth will be knocked off its axis.

The Skull of Doom is so precious it will go on display for just a few hours at a time during its two-day stay at The Hub in Edinburgh - the first time it has been displayed in the UK.

It is being brought here for a Histories and Mysteries conference on November 22 and 23.

Organiser Cris Winter said: "The skull is a unique artefact. Some people merely want to see it, experience it and, by putting it on public display, we provide this opportunity.

"But it is clear that others want to know more, and therefore we have provided other types of experiencing the skull too."

British adventurer "Mike" Mitchell Hedges, described as the real Indiana Jones, acquired the 5in skull in the 1930s, but refused to say how.

Film director George Lucas is so obsessed with the mystery surrounding the skull that he made it the central theme of the fourth Indiana Jones movie The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull.

And science fiction writer Arthur C Clarke decided to use it as the logo of his Mysterious World TV series in the 1980s.

The Skull of Doom was last valued in the 1970s at £500,000, but a more recent valuation by the Smithsonian Institute has been kept secret.