Shigir Idol

Advanced accelerator mass spectrometry dating places the Shigir Idol at around 11,000 to 11,600 years old, dating back to the early Holocene epoch. This makes it more than twice as old as the Egyptian pyramids, firmly establishing it as the oldest known wooden sculpture in the world.

The sculpture was discovered in 1890 in a peat bog at the Shigir archaeological site in the Sverdlovsk region of Russia. The anoxic, acidic waters of the peat bog perfectly preserved the larch wood for over 10 millennia.

The reconstructed idol is currently on display at the Sverdlovsk Regional Museum of Local Lore in Yekaterinburg, Russia. The museum carefully controls the humidity and lighting around the artifact to prevent the ancient wood from decaying.

The tall wooden figure is covered in intricate geometric patterns, including human faces and abstract lines along its flat surfaces. Researchers believe these carvings represent an ancient Mesolithic coding system, possibly a mythological map or an early form of written communication.