TOP-10 unsolved mysteries of Siberia

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Vast Siberia stretches east from the Ural Mountains to the Pacific and Arctic Oceans. There are only three people per square kilometer here, which makes Siberia one of the least populated places on the entire Earth. Nevertheless, for archaeologists, this area is a real treasure. Cool, dry air and permafrost keep the artifacts of the past safe and sound, over and over again surprising historians …

Shigir idol

At the beginning of the 19th century, archaeologists discovered the world's oldest wooden sculpture in Siberia. The so-called Great Shigir Idol has an impressive age of 11,000 years, that is, it is twice as old as the great pyramids and 6,000 years older than Stonehenge. This finding shows that human development began much earlier than scientists previously thought.

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The remains of a female warrior were found in the Altai Mountains in early 1990. Her grave was endowed with all military indicators of status - among other things, 9 war horses were buried together with the girl (DNA analysis showed that the warrior was only 16 years old).

Primitive oncology

For a long time, scientists considered oncological diseases a scourge of only modern man. However, in 2014, the remains of a warrior who died from prostate cancer were found in Siberia, that is, a terrible disease tormented people 4,500 years ago.

Ust-Taseevsky idol

A detailed study helped archaeologists to establish that the famous Ust-Taseevsky idol once looked completely different. 2,400 years ago, this statue was made by the Caucasians who inhabited the area. And in the early Middle Ages, the invasion of the Mongols drove out the former inhabitants, the idol was made narrow eyes, beard and mustache "shaved off".

Bone armor

Armor made of animal bones was discovered during excavations near modern Omsk. It is believed that it belongs to the man of the Samus-Seima culture, which developed in the Altai mountains and spread to the southwest.

Sewing accessories

In Denisova Cave, Frank's expedition came across the world's oldest sewing equipment. The needle in the photograph is almost 50,000 years old, and it was made from the bones of animals unknown to science. In addition, here scientists discovered the remains of little-studied Homenids, the Denisovsky man.

Ancient aristocrat

The ancient Okunev culture was ethnically close to the American Indians. This was confirmed by the grave of a representative of the upper strata of primitive society discovered by archaeologists: genetic analysis determined the similarity of the Okunev “boyaryn” and the indigenous people of North America.

Trepanation

As early as 3000 years ago, the indigenous inhabitants of Siberia practiced craniotomy. The skull of an adult found by archaeologists showed that after trepanation it lived for ten whole years - that is, trepanation was not done as a punishment, but was a distinctive feature of a representative of the upper class.

Cave lions

In the Siberian permafrost, researchers have found perfectly preserved dead cave lion cubs, which became extinct 10,000 years ago. The animals themselves would have turned 57,000 years old.

Romeo and Juliet

In one of the excavated graves, dated 5,000 BC. archaeologists have discovered two skeletons holding hands. The analysis showed that the man and woman belonged to different cultures - today historians call them the prototypes of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.