{"id":9461,"date":"2018-05-02T18:05:41","date_gmt":"2018-05-03T00:05:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=9461"},"modified":"2018-05-02T18:05:41","modified_gmt":"2018-05-03T00:05:41","slug":"pagan-idols-of-the-mesolithic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=9461","title":{"rendered":"Pagan Idols of the Mesolithic"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"

The Shigir figure<\/p><\/div>Across northern Europe from the Ural Mountains to Ireland, the people erected wooden figures, of them quite large, as the ice age known as the Younger Dryas<\/a> waned and the people could move into new, now-forested, lands. And they kept on during so until more recent times.<\/p>\n

At Twilight Beasts, <\/em>Rena Maguire writes,<\/p>\n

There are stories from the deep past we won\u2019t ever hear with our ears, but that\u2019s not to say we cannot hear them. Archaeology tells those stories, the ones that I think matter.\u00a0 The past I\u2019m talking of is the one wrapped in skins and furs against the spiteful cold of the Younger Dryas. It has wise eyes and a hopeful heart; it knows what sustenance may still grow in snow and biting cold, and knows where the animals go to drink deep in parched summers. That past is carried in each and all of us, we are here because our ancestors survived the ice and cold with wisdom, courage and plain stubbornness. There\u2019s times, however, something is found in bog, field or lake which beckons us to gather round in a circle, sit down, put the phone on silent, and listen to the past intently.<\/p>\n

The Shigir wooden idol<\/a> is one such object. It is an enigmatic wooden figure which, I admit, I could spend days just looking at, and \u2018listening\u2019 to, for it must have such a story to tell of the people who made it. It was found in a peat bog (all the best things are, imo) 100km north of Yekaterinburg<\/a>, Russia, at the end of the 19th<\/sup> century. It stands head and shoulders (literally) above other objects of the past as it would have measured around 5 m \u00a0when complete, a tower of song, stories and memory set down some 11000 years ago. It is made of larch<\/a> wood, and decorated with deep zig-zag lines on the torso, with 8 intriguing smaller faces carved as part of the design of the body. All the faces are unique and expressively stern.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

More idols and a bibliography at the link. I love a good bibliography.\u00a0 Read the whole thing!<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Across northern Europe from the Ural Mountains to Ireland, the people erected wooden figures, of them quite large, as the ice age known as the Younger Dryas waned and the people could move into new, now-forested, lands. And they kept on during so until more recent times. At Twilight Beasts, Rena Maguire writes, There are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[20,131,164,50,330,242,53],"class_list":["post-9461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-archaeology","tag-europe","tag-idolatry","tag-ireland","tag-mesolithic","tag-neolithic","tag-russia"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6xQTg-2sB","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1753,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=1753","url_meta":{"origin":9461,"position":0},"title":"Maybe the Oldest Pagan Fashion Statement","author":"Chas S. 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In each case, there are those who believe that the structures (particularly the Great Pyramid) and the sculpture from the Ural Mountains contain secret codes. The tall\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"archaeology\"","block_context":{"text":"archaeology","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=archaeology"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siberiantimes.com\/PICTURES\/SCIENCE\/Shigir-Idol-october-22-2014\/inside%20face%20left.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11557,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=11557","url_meta":{"origin":9461,"position":2},"title":"Another Strange Old-Time Pagan Burial Custom","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"June 29, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"If you read something about \"a head on a stake,\" you probably imagine someone's head \u2014 on a stake \u2014 outside the camp of the colorful but violent ancestors. This is different. About eight thousand years ago in southern Sweden, several people were \"buried,\" that is to say, placed underwater\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"ancestors\"","block_context":{"text":"ancestors","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=ancestors"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/mesolithic-300x169.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12132,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=12132","url_meta":{"origin":9461,"position":3},"title":"Ancient Idol Is Older than They Thought","author":"Chas S. 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