We live in a world where coming up across curiosities does manage to gather a crowd of people that are interested in the matter. However, nothing can be as interesting and as mysterious as the Shigir Idol, a statue that left researchers bewildered.
What have they found out
From what researchers managed to come upon due to dating this ancient artifact, it is twice as old as the Great Pyramids of Giza, something that one would not have expected at first glance. The study that focused on this statue, which was published in Antiquity, focused more on the way in which this statue was used.
First we would have to take a trip down memory lane. This statue was found back in 1894, when it was buried under 4 meters of peat at Shigir, which got it the name of the Shigir Idol. However, it was not found completely whole so the pieces that were uncovered had to be attached.
Back then they did not have the technology needed to date this statue but, as time passed and with the help of radiocarbon, they decided that it dated back almost 9,800 years ago, which is why it is older than the famous pyramids in Egypt.
What are the implications of this finding? Well, this one gives a glimpse into how early humans that just got out of the Ice Age related to art and art pieces. The inscriptions on the statue are very similar to what researchers have found at the Gobekli Tepe in Turkey which are dated to the Ice Age. This indicates that ritualistic artworks originated in multiple places at one time, not in a single place as some researchers have theorized. The question about how this statue was used still remains unanswered and we may never find out why.
As our second lead editor, Anna C. Mackinno provides guidance on the stories Great Lakes Ledger reporters cover. She has been instrumental in making sure the content on the site is clear and accurate for our readers. If you see a particularly clever title, you can likely thank Anna. Anna received a BA and and MA from Fordham University.