The Calaveras Skull

Description: On February 25, 1866 workers found a human skull buried deep inside a mine on Bald Mountain near Angels Creek in Calaveras County, California. The skull was located 130 feet below the surface, beneath a layer of lava. Eventually the skull made its way to J.D. Whitney, the State Geologist of California and Professor of Geology at Harvard University.

Based on the location the skull was found by the miners Whitney concluded that the skull was from the Pliocene era (5.3 to 1.8 million years ago). The skull is housed in the Peabody Museum in Cambridge Massachusetts.

Mainstream Theory: Bones found near the skull were Radio Carbon dated at 1,000 years ago. Locals and one of the principle participants admitted the skull was a hoax. The skull was taken from a local indian burial and placed in the mine for miners to find. The soil encrusted on the skull was not from the mine shaft indicating it was placed there from another location.

Alternative Theory: The original discoverers of the skull claim it was found in the mine and was not planted. Later, evolutionists and some religionists branded the skull as merely a trick played upon the unsuspecting finder (Mattison) and the geologist examiner (Whitney). The soil encrusted on the skull and inside is of the same materials as from the mine shaft indicating it was not planted there. The skull was partially fossilized indicating a very old origin and not from a recent Indian burial ground. This skull was not the only ancient find, many other implements, including spear points, stone mortars, and pestles, were found deep in mine shafts, beneath thick, undisturbed layers of lava during the gold rush days of California.