11,000-Year-Old Shigir Idol Dated Twice as Old as the Pyramids
German researchers have discovered that a well-preserved, totem-like artifact, known as the Shigir Idol, is nearly 11,000 years old making it more than twice as old as the Egyptian Pyramids. The idol bears similar carvings to those found at the ancient temple ruins of Göbekli Tepe.
The team published its findings in the Cambridge University’s archeological publication Antiquity, calling it the oldest piece of monumental art. Radiocarbon dating originally placed the idol at roughly 9,000 years, though a more accurate technique, known as accelerator mass spectrometry dating, found its true age to be nearly 2,000 years older.
The 16-ft. tall, wooden statue was originally discovered by miners in a bog in the Sverdlovsk region of Russia in the late-1800s. It was preserved by anti-microbial properties of the peat it was found buried in, allowing it to survive since the end of the last ice age, during the Holocene era.
Decorated with human faces and zig-zagged carvings, the idol appears to be held together by a glue-like substance. Mikhail Zhilin, an archeologist involved with the study, said the totem may have been carved by hunter-gatherers to represent local forest spirits or demons.
via salon.com
“They knew how to work wood perfectly,” Zhilin said.
Some experts believe the carvings in the statue may be hieroglyphs containing encrypted information describing the world at the time. A total of eight faces have been identified in addition to the idol’s myriad notches and etchings.
via siberiantimes.com
Researchers, including Graham Hancock, stated that the new dating of the idol may fit in with the Younger Dryas hypothesis, positing that a comet or large meteor struck the Earth around 12,900 years ago, creating a 1,200-year mini ice age.
Hancock says he believes this impact wiped out evidence of older, more advanced civilizations that may have existed then, giving us amnesia of an advanced ancestor.
The 11,000-year dating of the Shigir Idol also coincides with the age of Gobekli Tepe, the prehistoric temple ruins in southern Turkey that pushed back archeologists’ commonly held timeline of human civilization. The two parallel each other in that they prove our human ancestors at the time were capable of metaphysical and spiritual thought, contradicting mainstream theories that this sort of cognition didn’t occur until much later.
Thomas Terberger, a professor involved in the study, said, “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.”
About the Author
The Zone of Silence: An Ancient Mystery of Old Mexico
Because of Mexican engineer and chemist Harry De La Peña’s blond hair and blue eyes, since high school he had been called “El Luminaro,” the Luminous One. After a European education, De La Peña returned to Mexico to teach chemistry at the Instituto Tecnológico de Laguna in Torreon, Mexico. On a blistering day in 1966, he departed Torreon for a photo expedition with a group of friends.
On that day, El Luminaro would stumble into a zone of anomalous paradox. While native mestizos, the ethnically mixed descendants of Anglo and indigenous people, had long known the the area had strange and special qualities, it was now on the radar of a European-trained scientist. The locals believed that couples having trouble conceiving children could visit the Zone with a baby coming nine months later. Notably, Zone locals also had superior dental health with straight white teeth, and random blood samples from Zone residents show far greater health than those from outside the area.
Like the Bermuda Triangle, the Zone of Silence is located on the 27th parallel. Comprised of 1,500 square miles of inhospitable desert and extreme temperatures, there are no roads; only dirt tracks. And travel mishaps are dangerous as it’s difficult to call for help. El Zona del Silencio is an electromagnetic void; an anomaly, where compasses spin like dervishes and cell phone and radio signals are the definition of “hit-and-miss.” Even so, some view these odd reports as “deliberately invented to generate tourism and sold to the world via the mass media.”
Entering  El Zona del Silencio
Ceballos, in the Mexican State of Durango, is the point of departure closest to the zone. In 1966 the town, comprised of dirt roads and shacks, was barely on the map. More than 50-years since, the roads are still some combination of dirt, dust and mud, but signs point the way to El Zona del Silencio, and a 16 kilometer rail spur provides access from the outside. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
The wise enter the zone with as much ice and water as a vehicle can carry as well as extra gas. Only a fool would forget a hat. During monsoon season the ground becomes a slippery paste, and dry arroyos fill with torrential flood waters in an instant. Daytime temperatures can hit 120F and plummet to freezing after the sun drops below the horizon.
Nopal cactus grow in abundance — on the zone outskirts they have the typical green coloring, but change to pink and purple as one travels deeper into the region. What’s even weirder is that the purple and pink specimens are interspersed with green cactus plants.
Another rare species, the tailless Mapimà tortoise, is native to the area. Foot-long centipedes with purple heads and tails hunt anything they can catch, including mice and birds. Insects grow two to three times normal size, and albino reptiles and snakes are frequently sighted. Today much of the zone is within the boundaries of the Mapimà Biosphere Reserve — the inexplicable flora and fauna are subject to ongoing research.
