Which brings up some interesting points.

1-According to the Mayan calander (the most mathematically accurrate calander known on Earth) our last year will be 2012 (last day being Dec 21, 2012). There is no real explination that they offer but scientists do point to an unusual and rare astronomical alignment.

2-There are a few kown real genuine crystal skulls which are extremely ancient. There are legends which claim 13 exist and that all will one day be used to save the planet, but putting that legend aside as just a legend, we do have a handful of these in museums and private collections and all have been dated well back into the days of the ancient civilizations. Ironically detailed studies of the skulls have shown the workmanship to be exceptional and no evidence of tools is discernable-a fact which has scientists scratching their heads.

Although Leonard Nimoy will always be best remembered for his role as Spock on Star Trek, I will also remember him well for being the Host of "In Search Of" back in the 1970's and how he took on these kinds of mysteries with a real air of mystique.....today it will most likely get the Jason Seahorn treatment. Sad.

Not according to the Smithsonian:

<link>

Legend of the Crystal Skulls

by Jane MacLaren Walsh

Crystal skulls have undergone serious scholarly scrutiny, but they also excite the popular imagination because they seem so mysterious. Theories about their origins abound. Some believe the skulls are the handiwork of the Maya or Aztecs, but they have also become the subject of constant discussion on occult websites. Some insist that they originated on a sunken continent or in a far-away galaxy. And now they are poised to become archaeological superstars thanks to our celluloid colleague Indiana Jones, who will tackle the subject of our research in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

These exotic carvings are usually attributed to pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures, but not a single crystal skull in a museum collection comes from a documented excavation, and they have little stylistic or technical relationship with any genuine pre-Columbian depictions of skulls, which are an important motif in Mesoamerican iconography.

They are intensely loved today by a large coterie of aging hippies and New Age devotees, but what is the truth behind the crystal skulls? Where did they come from, and why were they made?

Jane MacLaren Walsh is an anthropologist at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.

See the url above for the full article, which is fascinating..

Yes, as I learned on NPR, they are all faked "artifacts" owing to the wheel marks evident (under electron microscope) in their carving.

Skulls were part of the symbols used at least by aztecs, but they were not made of crystal. they were made of different types of stones and other materials. Walls made of decorative skulls were known as "tzompantli", for example, and you can see fragments in the ruins in and around méxico city...

but no, no magic-crystal-skulls.

According to the article from the Smithsonian's expert that I referenced in my first post, some of the smallest skulls may be mesoamerican beads that were later remade into skulls during the colonial period, but neither they nor the large ones are in the artistic style of the native cultures.