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Two it! staffers have an adventure seeing the Smithsonian's crystal skull

Date published: 7/17/2008

BY MATT CAMERON

Everybody loves to watch a hero like Indiana Jones go on amazing expeditions to save the world from the forces of evil. But last Wednesday, fellow it! staffer Brinkley Sharpe and I had the opportunity to actually follow in Dr. Jones' adventurous footsteps by going to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History for a sneak peek at an actual crystal skull.

As everyone who's anyone knows, crystal skulls are mysterious objects supposedly predating the 15th-century arrival of Christopher Columbus in Central America. Of the 13 known skulls, many are purported to have originated in Guatemala, though they are not associated with a particular tribe or culture.

The legend of the skulls came into the spotlight this summer, after the artifacts were heavily featured in the latest record-breaking installment of the Indiana Jones series.

So, when the Smithsonian last week announced its plan to unveil one of the skulls, which it obtained under mysterious circumstances in 1992, Brinkley and I made plans to attend the media event at which museum director Cristián Samper, anthropologist Jane MacLaren Walsh and others would discuss their efforts to unlock its secrets.

Having seen the trouble that Dr. Jones went through to find a crystal skull, however, we knew that our excursion wouldn't be at all easy--and we were right.

THE VRE RIDE OF DOOM

The first obstacle that had to be overcome was the challenge of waking up. In order to catch our adventure train at 6:30 a.m., I arose at 5 to prepare myself for the journey. While it was bothersome to lose five hours of sleep because of this, it was reassuring to find that the world does, indeed, exist at such an early hour. I proceeded to the train station, where I met my partner in crime.

Things went smoothly until about 30 minutes into the ride, when the train's rear engine failed. The effect of this mechanical failure was that most of the train's lights went out, making things uncomfortably dark as we passed through numerous tunnels on the outskirts of D.C. It was fairly easy to deduce from the nature of the incident that it had, indeed, been caused by a crystal skull--one of the few objects powerful enough to cause an electrical disturbance on a fully equipped VRE train.

More important, however, was the fact that the electrical outage had made it perfectly clear to Brinkley and me that somebody or something didn't want us to make it to the Smithsonian that day. After deciding to be much more careful for the remainder of the trip, we navigated our way through the D.C. subway system to the surface of Washington.

THE LOST MUSEUM

SEE THE SKULL What: The Smithsonian Crystal Skull is on display. Where: Science in the News exhibit case, Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, 10th Street and Constitution Avenue, Washington When: 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily Cost: Free Info: 202/633-1000 Web: mnh.si.edu/exhibits

Date published: 7/17/2008