The Man Who Invented Aztec Crystal Skulls. Jane MacLaren Walsh

      I am indebted to a long list of people who assisted and guided me during my research into the life and career of Eugène Boban. First and foremost, I am grateful to my coauthor and partner, Brett Topping, who organized and edited the book. She also provided much of the historical research relating to the California Gold Rush, France in the nineteenth century, the Siege of Paris, and the terrible events of the Paris Commune revolt. Her research yielded invaluable context for Boban’s story. Her insights helped me better appreciate his achievements and idiosyncrasies.

      When I began my research for an article about crystal skulls in museum collections and first encountered Eugène Boban’s name, I was helped by two good friends, the late Robert von Kaupp and Randall Dean. They translated a number of Boban’s letters and articles for me, as my reading comprehension of French was negligible at the time.

      I have enjoyed the friendship, advice, and guidance of a great number of people whom I have met through this project, particularly in Washington, DC, New York, Mexico City, London, and Paris. Elizabeth Carmichael’s wonderful letter about the British Museum’s crystal skull led me to the trail of Eugène Boban. I am very grateful to her and Tony Kitzinger for their encouragement, kindness, and friendship. Many people in the British Museum have shared expertise and information. Margaret Sax’s pioneering work dating Mesopotamian cylinder seals introduced me to the use of scanning electron microscopy in the study of tool marks. Ian Freestone, Andrew Rankin, and Nigel Meeks generously shared their expertise. Philippa Glanville, formerly of the Victoria and Albert Museum, and her husband, Gordon Glanville, have for many years offered stimulating conversation, encouragement, and possible sources of information.

      During my first visit to Paris, Sally McLendon and her late husband, William Sturtevant, a Smithsonian colleague, introduced me to Marie-France Fauvet-Berthelot at the Musée de l’Homme. She allowed me to examine the Boban/Pinart papers and would later invite me to research Boban’s artifact collection, in particular the French crystal skull. I have worked closely with her ever since and have always been grateful for her generosity and kindness. Marie-France introduced me to anthropologist Eric Taladoire from the Sorbonne, who shared his work on a contemporary of Boban’s, Dr. Jean-Baptiste Fuzier. Christine Lorre, a conservator at the Musée d’archéologie nationale, provided me with photographs that Boban had sent to Gabriel Mortillet. She also told me that Mortillet’s papers were at the Universität de Saarlandes in Germany. Wolfgang Muller from that university later provided me with pdf images of Boban’s correspondence with Mortillet.

      A close friend, the late Claude François Baudez, encouraged and advised me, introducing me to a number