"[Crystal skulls] are not attached to any real ancient tradition. Every true believer has a slightly different take on them."

— Dr. Marc Zender

'Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull': What's The Title Mean?

Harvard lecturer explains possible role of fictional skulls in fourth Indy flick.

By Shawn Adler / Crystal skull - Photo: C. Corleis

He rediscovered love by finding the Ark of the Covenant, redeemed himself by rescuing the Sankara Stones and tasted illumination the second he sipped from the Holy Grail, but what sort of fortune and glory await Indiana Jones in his next adventure, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull"?

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"But a funny thing happened on the way to the present New Age movement," Zender laughed, saying the artifact somehow morphed from a device of doom into "an airy-fairy vehicle for harmonic convergence," which can amplify and focus psychic abilities. "People are able to gaze into the eyes of the crystal skull and see these scenes — to either read the past with great clarity or predict the future."

More interesting, perhaps — given recent rumors that the film would place Indy into direct conflict with aliens (or at least the bureaucrats at Area 51, where some of the film supposedly takes place) — is Zender's explanation of another one of the crystal skulls most flouted powers.

"These things are big crystals, and people started thinking of them as these super computers of past civilizations. If a silicon chip can hold tons of information and data, imagine what a gigantic 11-pound crystal can hold," Zender said. "So maybe this skull has stored all of the lost knowledge of the Mayans or Atlantians, or ET."

Recent online speculation seems to focus on this explanation, with scuttlebutt centered mostly on Indy's rumored otherworldly foes. But if Dr. Jones wants to phone home, it's going to be hard work.

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