11,000 years ago, a group of ancient humans in present-day Russia created a giant, hand-carved wooden statue standing at over six feet tall. From the top to the bottom, they inscribed an intricate code into the idol. At some point after the inscription, the idol was lost and sank to the bottom of a bog, where it remained until it was rediscovered in the late 1800s.
Researchers at the time dubbed it the Shigir Idol, since it was found in the peat bog of Shigir near the Ural Mountains.
After its discovery, researchers attempted to decode the writings on the idol, but failed at every attempt.
Those who study the Shigir Idol believe its writings were a stone age method of passing on information to future generations. Some experts believe the writings might be a religious creation story similar to the Bible’s book of Genesis.
When it was first discovered, the idol was thought to be about 9,500 years old.
A more recent carbon dating puts its age closer to 11,000 years old. That’s twice as old as the great pyramids and Stonehenge. The Shigir Idol is currently the oldest wooden structure in the world.
(via Yahoo)
That idol is creepy looking. I think it’s the almost human-looking face that gets me. It’s crazy to think that something so substantial from so long ago can still exist today.
