Starchild skull 1619859 222416263 2008-06-29T06:27:08Z Abyssal leviathin 611413 abduction phenomenon [[Image:Starchild skull 1.jpg|right|thumb|150px|Starchild skull]] The '''Starchild skull''' is an abnormal [[human]]-like [[skull]] which was found in [[Mexico]]. Its origin and nature are contested by [[science|scientists]] and [[paranormal]] enthusiasts. ==History== The starchild skull came into the possession of [[Lloyd Pye]], a writer and lecturer in the field of alternative knowledge, in February 1999.<ref name=starchild_background>{{cite web | last = Pye | first = Lloyd | title = TERRIBLE TWO'S : Summary of the first Two Years | work = Starchild Project | url = http://www.starchildproject.com/BackgroundTT.html | accessdate = 2006-10-01 }}</ref> According to Pye, the skull was found around 1930 in a mine tunnel about 100 miles (160 km) southwest of [[Chihuahua, Chihuahua]], buried alongside a normal human skeleton which was exposed and lying [[Supine position|supine]] on the surface of the tunnel.<ref name=Fortean_127>{{cite journal | last = McCoy | first = Max | title = Star Child | journal = [[Fortean Times]] | issue = 127 | pages = 42–45 |date= November 1999 }}</ref> The skull is abnormal in several aspects. A dentist determined, based on examination of the upper right [[maxilla]] found with the skull, that it was a child's skull, 4.5 to 5 years in age.<ref name=starchild_dental>{{cite web | last = Brown | first = Matthew | title = A Report on Maxilla and Dental X-Rays | work = Starchild Project | url = http://www.starchildproject.com/Reports_Brown.html | accessdate = 2006-10-01 }}</ref> However, the volume of the interior of the starchild skull is [[1 E-3 m³|1600 cubic centimeters]], which is 200 cm³ larger than the average adult's brain, and 400 cm³ larger than an adult of the same approximate size. The [[orbit (anatomy)|orbit]]s are oval and shallow, with the [[optic nerve]] canal situated at the bottom of the orbit instead of at the back. There are no [[frontal sinus]]es.<ref name=Fortean_127 /> The back of the skull is flattened, but not by artificial means. The skull consists of [[hydroxyapatite|calcium hydroxyapatite]], the normal material of [[mammal]]ian bone.<ref name=starchild_robinson>{{cite web | last = Robinson | first = Ted J. | title = A Preliminary Analysis of a Highly Unusual Human-Like Skull | work = Starchild Project | url = http://www.starchildproject.com/Reports_Robinson.html | accessdate = 2006-10-01 }}</ref> [[Radiocarbon dating|Carbon 14 dating]] was performed twice, the first on the normal human skull at the University of California at Riverside in 1999, and on the Starchild skull in 2004 at Beta Analytic in [[Miami]], the largest [[radiocarbon dating]] laboratory in the world. Both independent tests gave a result of 900 years ± 40 years since death. <ref name=starchild_DNA_report>{{cite web | last = Pye | first = Lloyd | authorlink = | title = A Forensic DNA Analysis of two Unusual Skulls of Uncertain Origin | work = Starchild Project | url = http://www.starchildproject.com/SweetDNAReport.html | accessdate = 2007-12-29 }}</ref> [[DNA testing]] in 1999 at BOLD, a [[forensic]] DNA lab in [[Vancouver, British Columbia]] found standard [[X chromosome|X]] and [[Y chromosome]]s in two samples taken from the skull. BOLD was unable to extract any DNA from the maxilla.<ref name=starchild_DNA_report/> Further DNA testing at Trace Genetics, which unlike BOLD specializes in extracting DNA from ancient samples, in 2003 recovered [[mitochondrial DNA]] and determined that the child had a human mother, though it was not the child of the skull found with it. Its mother did belong to a known [[Native American]] [[haplogroup]], haplogroup C. However, useful lengths of [[nuclear DNA]] for further testing could not be recovered. <ref name=starchild_DNA>{{cite web | last = Pye | first = Lloyd | authorlink = | title = Early DNA Testing | work = Starchild Project | url = http://www.starchildproject.com/Reports_Sweet.html | accessdate = 2006-10-01 }}</ref> Later testing in 2004 at the [[Royal Holloway| Royal Holloway college]] <ref>[http://www.rhul.ac.uk/Biological-Sciences/ Royal Holloway : School of Biological Sciences<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> of the [[University of London]] revealed unexplained "fibers" in the bone of the skull and a reddish residue in the [[cancellous bone]], neither of which are known or recorded to exist prior to the discovery.<ref name=WUSA>{{cite web | title = Alien Skull Mystery Continues | publisher = [[WUSA (TV)|WUSA9]] |date= Oct. 23, 2004 | url = http://www.wusatv9.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=34268 | accessdate = 2006-10-01 }}</ref> ==Paranormal Interest== Despite criticism from established science, the skull has gathered great interest within the study of [[UFO]]s and [[extraterrestrial life|alien life forms]]. Some contend that it is the skull of a non-human, or a human/non-human hybrid, based on the shape of the skull bearing similarities to the common [[Greys|grey]] representation of aliens.<ref>{{cite web| title =WORLD EXCLUSIVE DNA PHOTOGRAPHS| url =http://www.starchildproject.com/DNA.html| accessdate =2007-04-11}}</ref> Other explanations have included the use of [[cradle board]]ing on a [[hydrocephalus|hydrocephalic]] child,<ref name=Fortean_191>{{cite journal | last = Phoenix | first = Jack | title = Unconvention 2004 | journal = [[Fortean Times]] | issue = 191 | pages = 28–30 |date= Early 2005 (special) }}</ref> [[brachycephaly]], or [[Crouzon syndrome]].<ref name=world-mysteries>{{cite web | last = Chow | first = Adelina | title = The Mystery of the Starchild Skull | publisher = World-Mysteries.com |date= 2006 | url = http://www.world-mysteries.com/sar_6achow.htm | accessdate = 2006-10-01 }}</ref> ==References== {{reflist|2}} ==External links== ===Advocacy of alien theory=== *[http://www.starchildproject.com/ Starchild Project Website] ===Critical=== *[http://www.theness.com/articles.asp?id=37 The Starchild Project] - Critical overview by [[Steven Novella]] *[http://www.world-mysteries.com/sar_6achow.htm The Mystery of the Starchild Skull] {{UFOs}} [[Category:Ancient mysteries]] [[Category:Extraterrestrial life]] [[Category:UFO-related phenomena]] [[Category:Skull]] [[Category:Ancient astronaut theory]] [[Category: Abduction phenomenon]] [[da:Starchild skull]] [[de:Starchild-Schädel]]