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In 1924, Frederick Mitchell-Hedges led a team to Lubaantun, an ancient Mayan (玛雅人的) city in modern-day Belize, a country in Central America. There, his daughter, Anna, found one of the most mysterious objects in history: a crystal skull (水晶头骨) that looked like a perfect human head. After that, more crystal skulls appeared in a short period across Europe and North America.

For years, those mysterious crystal skulls have caused a lot of discussion. Even now, no one knows exactly who made them, and no one can say when.

Some people believe the Mesoamerican (中美洲的) people made the skulls thousands of years ago. Some stories say they have special powers (能力), such as the ability to make sick people well. Moviemakers love these stories. In the movie Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the skulls had great powers. In the movie, a crystal skull is actually the head of an alien.

However, most scientists don’t believe these stories. They think the skulls are more modern. Scientists have found marks on the skulls that they believe only more modern technology could make. Because of this, scientists are certain the skulls are not thousands of years old. Instead, they think the skulls are from the 19th century. Scientists also point to the British Museum’s research—researchers have found many Mesoamerican objects, but they have never found a crystal skull. Scientists say this is also evidence to show they are not really Mesoamerican.

Until we know more about the skulls, the mystery—and the debate (争论)—will continue.