5/12/08

current event
title:Real-life skull worship inspires new 'Indiana Jones' film
who:19th century crystal skull made in Germany is presented to the press ahead of the new "Indiana Jones" film.
what:There is a legend that the ancient Maya possessed 13 crystal skulls which, when united, hold the power of saving the Earth -- a tale so strange and fantastic that it inspired the latest Indiana Jones movie.
when:5/12/08
where:PALENQUE, Mexico
why:In fact, few of today's crystal skulls can be documented any further back than the 1860s, when Europe was swept by a rage for pre-Hispanic "relics." Frenchman Eugene Boban, a colorful antiquities dealer with a checkered past and murky political ties, set up a store here to supply the trade after the French invaded Mexico. Eventually he carted skulls around between New York, Paris and Mexico City, selling them to private collectors.
how:Experts dismiss the hundreds of existing crystal skulls as fakes that were probably made by colorful antiquities traders in the 19th century. But Mayan priests worship the skulls, even today, and real-life skull hunters still search for them.
The true story of the skulls stretches over continents and hundreds of years, and may be even more extraordinary than the tale portrayed in this fourth installment of the Harrison Ford franchise.
It's unclear what version of the tale will appear in "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," which opens in U.S. theaters on May 22.
The plot of the film -- the first Indiana Jones movie since "The Last Crusade" came out in 1989 -- revolves around a race against the Soviets to find the skulls.