A mysterious wooden statue recovered from a Russian peat bog in 1890 is now believed to be twice the age of Stonehenge and the pyramids. Found in the Ural Mountains, the Shigir Idol is believed to be 11,000 years old, making the mysterious statue the oldest wooden sculpture in the world, according to The Independent.
The significant findings were presented at a press conference August 27 in Yekaterinburg, Russia. The idol was previously held to be 9,500 years old.
"Researches were conducted in Mannheim, Germany, at one of the world's most advanced laboratories using Accelerated Mass Spectrometry, on seven minuscule wooden samples. The results were astonishing, as samples from inside parts of the Idol showed its age as 11,000 calendar years, to the very beginning of the Holocene epoch. We also learned that the sculpture was made from a larch which was at least 157 years old," researchers said at the press conference, according to The Siberian Times.
