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 Real History of Giants Living on Earth
Humans have long expressed a fascination and fear around the question, “Were there giants on Earth?” Whether in legends or life, giants have been worshipped, reviled, ostracized, and celebrated. While the existence of dinosaurs is largely accepted, and millions of people travel across continents to marvel at majestic, larger-than-life monuments, the facts about human giants or giant races are up for debate. Regardless of whether they are dismissed as a myth or accepted as fact, giants represent important aspects of our individual and collective psyche. They capture our imagination, appear in religious texts, and drive scientific inquiry. But the question still remains — did giants once roam the earth?
Proof of Giants Throughout History
The concept of giants has been a part of human folklore and mythological narratives for millennia, resonating through various cultures and continents, from the Americas to Africa and from ancient Israel to the Norse. In the Americas, both North and South have indigenous legends speaking of giant beings, some even overlapping with interpretations of megafauna like mastodons that once roamed the land. The Native American tales often include references to a race of giants, which could be considered a cultural memory of these large prehistoric animals.
In Biblical Text
The biblical references, such as those found in the Book of Genesis, speak of the Nephilim, a race of giants that existed before the Flood. These beings have been subject to much interpretation, with some considering them metaphorical while others believe in their literal existence. David’s battle against Goliath is one of the most iconic stories of a human overcoming a giant from the Bible.
Around the World
From Africa to Germany, as well as in the Norse traditions of Europe, tales of giants are common, often tied to the creation myths and early histories of peoples. Native American folklore across various tribes frequently speaks of giants, who are depicted as powerful spirits or ancestors that roamed the land, some of whom interacted with the people, teaching or challenging them. In Egyptian mythology, the giant Geb, the god of the Earth, was often depicted as a colossal figure whose laughter was believed to cause earthquakes and whose body formed the hills and valleys of ancient Egypt. Perhaps no culture is more richly intertwined with tales of giants than that of the Greeks, from the gods of Olympus to their offspring, such as the Cyclops.
Giant Skeletal Remains
The Smithsonian Institution in the United States, along with other scientific bodies, has been involved in the study of large humanoid bones that have been discovered, often shrouded in mystery and sometimes labeled as hoaxes. Newspaper articles from the 19th and early 20th centuries in New York and California frequently featured stories of giant skeletons unearthed, fueling speculation about ancient giants on Earth.
Extraterrestrial Theories
Theories about ancient aliens, as seen in various full episodes of Beyond Belief or popular documentaries, sometimes suggest that these giants were extraterrestrial visitors, while others propose that they were simply larger human beings that lived in ancient times.
Skepticism remains high, with many of these stories considered hoaxes or misinterpretations of archaeological findings. The search for evidence continues, with enthusiasts combing through books, historical newspaper articles, and religious texts like the Christian Bible and the Book of Enoch for clues.
Modern Giants, A Brief Look at Gigantism
Merriam-Webster defines a giant as being a “legendary humanlike being of great stature and strength,” as well as “a living being of great size.” In physical terms, a giant is a person over seven feet tall with a condition known as “gigantism.” The tallest person documented in modern history was Robert Wadlow (1918-1940), known as the “Alton Giant,” or the “Giant of Illinois,” who stood 8 feet 11 inches tall.
Robert Wadlow, the Alton Giant
Wadlow intended to study law but lived as a celebrity after traveling with the Ringling Brothers Circus and as a spokesman for giant-sized shoes. He died at a young age, an all too common end for those with gigantism — their weight and size put constant strain on the heart and skeletal system.
Today, genetic giants are gaining acceptance because, overall, humans have evolved into a taller species. According to Max Roser, an economist studying global standards of living conditions, between 1810 and 1980, European male height grew from an average of 160 centimeters to 185 centimeters. But despite this acceptance, giants can still find life in a normal-sized world stressful and lonely and, like Wadlow, are treated as an oddity. This contradiction doesn’t exactly mirror how giant races have been regarded throughout history.
Did Giants Live on Earth?
In the realm of archaeology and anthropology, there is no credible evidence to suggest that a race of giants once inhabited the Earth. The large bones sometimes purported to be from giants have typically been identified as belonging to prehistoric animals like dinosaurs or mammoths.
However, tales of giant humans across the earth, whether rooted in mythology, religion, or speculative history, continue to intrigue us. From America to Africa, and from the annals of the Smithsonian to the pages of the Christian Bible, the concept of giants weaves a complex tapestry of intrigue, belief, and scholarly curiosity. Whether these stories emerge from real giants or are simply metaphors within cultural histories, they remain a compelling part of our collective narrative.
