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Revelations on Shigir Idol 'change our understanding of ancient civilisations'

By Anna Liesowska
28 August 2015

Culture on edge of Siberia was 'as advanced' as in Middle East, then considered to be the apex of development.

Idol 'will get a huge recognition in the world and will show that the centre of cultural development in Eurasia was not only the Middle East but also in the Urals'. Picture: The Siberian Times 

The disclosure this week on the precise fixing of age of the ancient wooden carved statue known as the Shigir Idol is seen as groundbreaking to our understanding of the pre-historic world. 

As first revealed by The Siberian Times, the haunting monument is 11,000 years old, according to leading German scientists. As such, it is more than twice as the age of the Pyramids of Egypt and the Stonehenge monument in the United Kingdom. 

The Idol - found in a peat bog in the Urals - is also 1,500 years older than previously thought by scientists, and the exact fixing of its age destroys theories by sceptics that it was not as ancient as its proponents believed. 

Big Shigir Idol

Press conference on the results of the joint research was held on August 27 in Yekaterinburg. Picture: Alexander Varketin

The new findings are described as highly significant in understanding the cultural development of ancient man. Russian academics believed that foreign colleagues doubted the age of the Idol, but this scepticism is now shown to be misplaced. 

General director of the Sverdlovsk Regional History Museum, Natalia Vetrova, said earlier Russian claims that it was at least 9,500 years old 'were not recognised by the international scientific community. And we wanted to know for sure, and tell the world how old our Idol is'.

Thomas Terberger, a professor at the Department of Cultural Heritage of Lower Saxony, one of those involved in dating the Idol, said: 'The results exceeded our expectations. The age of the Shigir idol is 11,000 years. 

'This is an extremely important data for the international scientific community. It is important for understanding the development of civilisation and the art of Eurasia and humanity as a whole. 

'We can say that in those times, 11,000 years ago, the hunters, fishermen and gatherers of the Urals were no less developed than the farmers of the Middle East.'

Big Shigir Idol, Yekaterinburg History Museum


THE oldest wooden statue in the world


THE oldest wooden statue in the world

'We can say that in those times, 11,000 years ago, the hunters, fishermen and gatherers of the Urals were no less developed than the farmers of the Middle East.' Pictures: The Siberian Times 

He predicted that as a result of the latest tests, the Idol 'will get a huge recognition in the world and will show that the centre of cultural development in Eurasia was not only the Middle East but also in the Urals'.

Russian experts have described the findings as 'sensational'. They show that the Idol - covered in an 'encrypted code' which academics say maybe a coded message from ancient man - is the oldest of its kind in the world. 

During the research it was discovered the Idol had eight faces, one more than previously understood. Only one is three dimensional. The wooden masterpiece was originally dug from the Urals' peat bog in 1890. The bog has preserved it 'like a time capsule'.

THE oldest wooden statue in the world

Professor Mikhail Zhilin, leading researcher of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Archeology, has spoken previously of his 'feeling of awe' when studying the Idol. Picture: The Siberian Times 

The German analysis dates the Idol to the opening of the Holocene epoch. It was made from a freshly-cut 157 year old larch, and stone tools were used for carving the markings and hieroglyphics which several academics say contains a message from ancient man to people living now.

The ancient monument now stands 2.8 metres in height but originally was 5.3 metres tall, as high as a two storey house. In the Soviet era, two metres of the ancient artifact went missing, though drawings were made of it by pre-revolutionary archaeologist Vladimir Tolmachev

Professor Mikhail Zhilin, leading researcher of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Archeology, has spoken previously of his 'feeling of awe' when studying the Idol. 'This is a masterpiece, carrying gigantic emotional value and force,' he said.

THE oldest wooden statue in the world

Previously was understood that the Idol had seven faces, only one is three dimensional. Picture: The Siberian Times 

'It is a unique sculpture, there is nothing else in the world like this. It is very alive, and very complicated at the same time. The ornament is covered with nothing but encrypted information. People were passing on knowledge with the help of the Idol.'

While the messages remain 'an utter mystery to modern man', it was clear that its creators 'lived in total harmony with the world, had advanced intellectual development, and a complicated spiritual world', he said.

Comments (26)

Wow. That would have been a very impressive sight 11 thousand years ago. It would wonderful to see it in person today
JBP , Scotland MD
12/05/2023 08:29
0
0
creation is something that sets behind views... even de mankind who made it hv' t thought that his creation would became a mystery for today's world... but a specular glance on it... makes me think of some ancient god of that time....
ankita rawat, india/d.dun
25/11/2018 16:15
0
0
What a  fantastic peice of mans history
davetheravegordon, England
20/09/2015 17:46
8
2
It's aliens.
Kay Oss, Lockport, IL USA
13/09/2015 09:55
2
4
It can't be a spear thrower at 8 feet tall.

It could easily be a tent pole. Mr , has obviously never seen either the modern subaltern tent, or the Amerind tepee. The former uses a centerpole, the latter is even roomier, and quite warm.
Michael Z. Williamson, Greenwood, Indiana, USA
10/09/2015 13:51
3
4
People all over the world were no less "developed" than the farmers of the Middle East. They simply developed in different ways. Only those of us who identify with the civilizations of the Middle East think they were more developed.
Martha, Grants Pass/ USA
09/09/2015 04:23
11
4
Resembling the totem poles of North America
Norbert Mjadwesch, Grattai - Australia
06/09/2015 08:25
8
2
Could this be a spear thrower? What the Australian Aborigines call a woomera?
Rob, Los Angeles
04/09/2015 10:01
4
4
Do you have a recent picture in more detail so I help with translation can you send it to nathanjdrodgers2015@hotmail.com
Nathan rodgers , Uk
03/09/2015 20:32
2
2
The people living in that area were most probably ancestors of Finno-Ugric nations.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finno-Ugric_peoples
Could it be that the pole is actually Sampo and the unidentified carpenter Ilmarinen?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sampo
And maybe there is a connection between the "encrypted code" and our rune stones?
https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruunid
Or perhaps in the patterns of our national clothes?
https://www.facebook.com/v66kirjad

This is VERY intriguing! :)
Terko Jakobson, Tartu, Estonia
03/09/2015 03:24
6
2
It's a giant spoon for a giant to stir his giant cup of coffee....
Karl, Ireland
01/09/2015 22:12
12
5
The idol is what we know in India as a "cosmic column" or a "kashthshilpa" (sanskrit) of "purusa" or Cosmic man represented as a "stambhdeva" like a tall, slender Mukhalingam - a phallic symbol- symbol of fertility , dominance and ascendance. Siberian scholars may refer to this- http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/av/av10007.htm. It is creation of Indo European pre Vedic community of primary producers in Ural mountains experiencing the commencement of a warm period, the end of ice age. The inscribed pattern is similar to what we know as Vedic yantras and mandalas very common in Indian temple graffiti and indicates that this society later spread to north west of India and created the famous Vedas. An in-depth computer analysis of the inscribed pattern with similar patterns in India influenced by Vedas would establish the lost connection. The location is less than 3000 kms from Peshawar a distance eqaul to Kanyakumari to Chandigarh in India.So the migration is feasible.
Nandkumar Kamat, India
01/09/2015 13:11
33
9
Magic mushrooms with buddies on a cold day. LOL. Thanks....
Paul Venne, USA
01/09/2015 11:33
6
4
A very beautiful pieces, and makes me wonder much more about our ancestors. The faces could symbolise forms of the Divine within humans, who back then were more likely attuned to their own spiritual nature and powers. Or, they could represent the spirits of animals or plant life, The carvings also remind me of similar lines etched into Tibetan fossilised wood beads used for trading. Thank you for sharing this discovery.
Lorraine Jorden, New York, NY and France
01/09/2015 08:19
5
2
Sub: space Visionaries-ancient civilisations
If one considers Treta Yuga distinct from Dwapara Yuga and the present Kaliyuga,
the Human being need to set Vision beyond Sun to see on-set of Conscious frames- Divine phenomena.
Lord Sree Venkateswara, Tirupati, South India idol is around 9 ft and evidently, Treta Yuga might have witnessed
Human Being with high Spinal column [or one can take centre of physical body principle] may extend between
12 ft to 16 ft height.
vidyardhi Nanduri [independant Research-Space cosmology vedas interlinks]
Vidyardhi nanduri, Hyderbad,India-Visitor Chicago
01/09/2015 07:08
2
10
12

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