Frederick Albert Mitchell-Hedges (sometimes known as Mike; 22 October 1882 – 12 June 1959) was an English adventurer, traveller and writer. Mitchell-Hedges was known for his connection to the Mitchell-Hedges crystal skull, claimed to have been found with his adopted daughter Anna Mitchell-Hedges in Lubaantun, British Honduras (now

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

) in 1924. Archival evidence shows that the elder Mitchell-Hedges bought the skull at a

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

auction in 1943, and other of his finds are also in question.

Personal life

Born in London in 1882, Mitchell-Hedges attended school until he was 16. During his younger years, he worked for his father, John Hedges, in his

stockbroking A stockbroker is a regulated broker, broker-dealer, or registered investment adviser (in the United States) who may provide financial advisory and investment management services and execute transactions such as the purchase or sale of stocks an ...

company. While Frederick expressed interest in exploring at a young age, John was against the idea of his son travelling, making their relationship a difficult one. After a trip to Canada, Frederick married Lillian Clarke in 1906. The two mostly lived apart from each other and whilst they had no children of their own they adopted Canadian

orphan An orphan (from the el, ορφανός, orphanós) is a child whose parents have died. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents due to death is called an orphan. When referring to animals, only the mother's condition is usuall ...

Anne Marie Le Guillon, today known as Anna Mitchell-Hedges. Mitchell-Hedges continued to travel well into his latter years until he died in 1959.

Travels

Shortly following his 16th birthday, Mitchell-Hedges took his first trip with Brooke Mee on an expedition to

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. The trip lasted three weeks and upon returning to London Mitchell-Hedges had high hopes of becoming an explorer. After marrying Lillian, Mitchell-Hedges took a trip to Canada where he met and eventually adopted Anne Marie Le Guillon. He continued to travel through Northern and Central America. He found himself in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

where he was captured by

Pancho Villa Francisco "Pancho" Villa (, Orozco rebelled in March 1912, both for Madero's continuing failure to enact land reform and because he felt insufficiently rewarded for his role in bringing the new president to power. At the request of Madero's c ...

and worked as a

spy Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...

, then in New York and back to Central America. Mitchell-Hedges also had a growing interest in the lost city of

Atlantis Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and '' Critias'', wherein it represents the antagonist naval power that b ...

which continued to influence his curiosity for travel. While on his many excursions, Mitchell-Hedges repeatedly made claims of having "discovered" Indian tribes and "lost cities" that had already been documented years, sometimes centuries, before. In addition, Mitchell-Hedges made claims of finding "the cradle of civilisation" in the

Mosquito Coast The Mosquito Coast, also known as the Mosquitia or Mosquito Shore, historically included the area along the eastern coast of present-day Nicaragua and Honduras. It formed part of the Western Caribbean Zone. It was named after the local Miskit ...

of Nicaragua, and stated that the

Bay Islands Bay Islands may refer to: * Bay Islands Department, Honduras * Southern Moreton Bay Islands, Queensland, Australia See also * Bay of Islands * Bay of Isles * Island Bay, Wellington * Little Bay Islands Little Bay Islands is a vacant town in ...

of Honduras were remnants of the lost civilisation of Atlantis. For a time in the 1930s the adventurist had a weekly radio show out of New York City on Sunday evenings. Talking over a background of "jungle drums", Mitchell-Hedges would tell dramatic tales of his trips, usually including narrow escapes from death at the hands of "savages" or from jungle animals ranging from a jaguar to a vicious attacking

iguana ''Iguana'' (, ) is a genus of herbivorous lizards that are native to tropical areas of Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. The genus was first described in 1768 by Austrian naturalist Josephus Nicolaus Laurenti in his ...

Findings

Crystal skull british museum random9834672

Among other findings, Mitchell-Hedges' claim to fame was his "discovery" of a "

crystal skull Crystal skulls are human skull hardstone carvings made of clear or milky white quartz (also called "rock crystal"), claimed to be pre-Columbian Mesoamerican artifacts by their alleged finders; however, these claims have been refuted for all of th ...

". He claimed to have found it with his daughter Anna at the

Maya Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (Ethiopia), a popul ...

ruin of Lubaantun while on an expedition to

British Honduras British Honduras was a British Crown colony on the east coast of Central America, south of Mexico, from 1783 to 1964, then a self-governing colony, renamed Belize in June 1973,

(present-day

) in the 1920s. However, he made no record of the skull until the late 1940s, after a crystal skull was auctioned off by Sydney Burney at

in October 1943. Moreover in December 1943, F.A. Mitchell-Hedges disclosed in a letter to his brother that he had recently acquired the skull in an auction from Burney, paying £400. Controversies continued when identical measurements were found between Sotheby's skull and Mitchell-Hedges' skull, leaving the authenticity of this artifact questionable at best. Mitchell-Hedges' crystal skull was retained in the possession of his adopted daughter until her death on 11 April 2007. Prior to her death, the skull was only shown to the public periodically, making it hard for the skull to be accessed and tested for authenticity. Since Anna's death the skull has been examined thoroughly and despite many previous claims, the skull has been dated as post-Columbus era. Based on microscopic evidence, the skull's tool markings are a result of modern equipment and not of tools found in ancient Maya sites.

Legacy

Mitchell-Hedges is said to have inspired the character Indiana Jones. However, neither George Lucas nor Steven Spielberg—co-creators of the successful concept and franchise—have indicated that any specific individual inspired their character, other than the generic stock heroes popularised in the

matinée In the performing arts, film exhibition, and other forms of entertainment, a matinée is a performance or exhibition in the afternoon (or occasionally earlier), as distinguished from the evening Evening is the period of a day that starts at t ...

series and

pulp magazines Pulp magazines (also referred to as "the pulps") were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 to the late 1950s. The term "pulp" derives from the cheap wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed. In contrast, magazine ...

of the 1930s and 1940s.

Published works

Books and other titles written by Mitchell-Hedges include: *''Battles With Giant Fish'' *''Danger, My Ally'' *''Land of Wonder and Fear'' Concerning ''Land of Wonder and Fear'', prominent British archaeologist

J. Eric S. Thompson Sir John Eric Sidney Thompson (31 December 1898 – 9 September 1975) was a leading English Mesoamerican archeology, archaeologist, ethnohistorian, and epigraphy, epigrapher. While working in the United States, he dominated Maya studies and p ...

commented that "to me the wonder was how he could write such nonsense and the fear how much taller the next yarn would be".

References

Notes

Sources

* Garvin, Richard. ''The Crystal Skull''. New York: Doubleday & Company Inc., 1973. * MacLaren Walsh, Jane. "The Skull of Doom." ''

Archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...

'', 27 May 2010. * MacLaren Walsh, Jane. "Legend of the Crystal Skulls." ''Archaeology'', 17 June 2008. * ''Ancient Aliens Debunked.'' Dir. Chris White. 2012.

External links

*
Annotated timeline of Mitchell-Hedges' life by Raymond John Howgego

Investigative journalism article on Mitchell-Hedges history, by C.D. Stelzer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell-Hedges, F.A. 1882 births 1959 deaths 19th-century explorers 20th-century explorers English explorers English writers Explorers of Central America Crystal skull