[Music]

so picture this it's

1894 Siberia and some miners are

freezing their tails off digging through

swampy Frozen muck then bam they hit the

jackpot buried for thousands of years

they uncover a towering wooden idle

that's nearly 12T tall Q Jaws hitting

the floor its surface covered in weird

geometric symbols in abstract faces that

practically scream hey I've got Secrets

this thing now called the shagar idol

isn't just old it's ancient we're

talking over 12,000 years old from way

back during the younger dras period that

makes it older than the pyramids older

than Stonehenge older than most of your

great great grandpa's bad jokes oh and

it's the oldest wooden sculpture ever

found no big deal right but here's where

it gets spicy those symbols carved all

over it Scholars are scratching their

heads trying to figure out what they

mean a forgotten language a system of

Knowledge from a civilization we've

never even heard of or maybe just an

ancient version of killroy was here

let's pause for a second who actually

made this thing what were they trying to

say could the shagar idol be evidence of

an advanced society that disappeared

Without a Trace like one of those blink

and youed civilizations that leaves

behind cryptic Clues just to mess with

us and what if it's even weirder than

that Legends of Atlantis and Lura talk

about Advanced societies that vanished

into the other their knowledge scattered

or erased could the shagar idol be one

of those

relics or maybe it was carved by people

who I don't know met them like ancient

fan art of the Lost

Civilization but wait it gets creepier

there's another theory floating around

and it's the kind of thing that gives

you Goosebumps what if this knowledge

isn't from Earth at

all what if the shagar idol is and bear

with me here a gift from beings not of

this world yeah I said it aliens

Advanced knowledge left behind by

visitors from beyond the stars sure it's

out there but hey so is the idol itself

so what's the real story who made it why

and what in the world or Beyond it does

it mean the answer might change

everything you know let's find out

[Music]

all right let's hop into a time machine

and zip back to

1894 picture this the middle of Siberia

near the uro mountains a group of miners

is out there in the freezing cold

chipping away at Frozen Pete and Ice

hoping to strike gold spoiler alert they

didn't fight in Gold but history oh

history found them so there they are

shoveling dirt like their lives depend

on it when one of them hits something

weird the dull thud of Pete suddenly

turns into a sharp crack intrigued and

probably thinking it's some buried

treasure the guy brushes away the soil

what he uncovers isn't shiny or metal

it's wood but not just any wood this

thing has carvings what they pulled out

of the bog wasn't the jackpot they were

expecting but it turned out to be

priceless

buried in the swamp was a massive wooden

statue etched with strange patterns and

faces it was so well preserved it looked

like it had just been carved like the

ancient world had left us a little time

capsule here's where it gets wild the

artifact now called the shagar idol was

shipped off to a museum in y kenberg

because that's what you do when you find

weird old stuff their archaeologists

started putting the pieces together

literally once fully reconstructed the

idle stood nearly 12 ft tall carved from

large wood a tree basically designed by

nature to defy Decay 12 ft tall that's

an ex stacking two NBA players and

giving them a carved wooden

mask but it wasn't the size that floored

people it was the details the surface

was covered in zigzags Chevrons and

these trippy human like faces stacked on

top of each other the designs weren't

random either they were deliberate like

someone had a message to send except

they forgot to leave a dear future

humans note to explain it all naturally

the experts went full detective mode

what did these symbols mean were they

just decorative Doodles or was this some

kind of ancient memo like don't feed the

saber-tooth tigers or beware of bog

monsters over the years researchers have

had a field day trying to crack the Cod

some think the carvings Are Spiritual or

cosmological basically an ancient

people's attempt to map out the universe

others think they might be an early form

of writing predating any known script by

thousands of years imagine this thing

could be the prehistoric equivalent of

an emoji filed text message here's the

kicker whoever made the shagar idol

wasn't just fumbling through life these

were people who had the time and brain

power to think create and carve

something they clearly wanted us to find

why who knows maybe they were trying to

leave a legacy or maybe it's just

prehistoric graffiti saying kill Roy

wasir either way they succeeded in

grabbing our attention 12,000 years

[Music]

later all right let's talk about how the

shagar Idol went from old to holy cow

that's ancient when it was first

discovered experts thought it was around

9,000 years old that alone made it a

historical heavyweight but in 2018 some

updated radiocarbon dating came in with

a plot twist turns out this thing isn't

9,000 years old it's over 12,000

mindblowing right that means it was

carved back when mammoths were still

stomping around in humanity was just

figuring out how to adult it also means

it was carved right before the younger

dras period right before the great flood

that we hear over and over in almost all

ancient civilizations that wiped out all

of

humanity the shagar idol was created at

the tail end of the ice age during the

Mesolithic period back then most people

were still chasing dinner with sticks

and moving around with the seasons just

trying to keep from freezing or starving

yet Here Comes This 12T carved wooden

Masterpiece practically screaming yeah

we are more than just hunter gatherers

it's proof that even in an era of

survival mode some people had the time

tools and vision to make something

extraordinary in those carvings not

random at all researchers think they

could represent protor writing a sort of

prehistoric text before actual written

language came along the zigzag Chevrons

and Eerie abstract faces weren't just

for decoration they were deliberate

packed with beaning and likely encoded

some serious messages think of it as the

Mesolithic version of a cosmic posted

note but wait it gets deeper the shagar

idol wasn't just about practicality the

carvings probably reflected spiritual or

cosmological beliefs like some Grand

attempt to connect the physical and

metaphysical maybe it was a guide to the

divine or an offering to higher powers

in simpler terms this wasn't just Art

For Art's Sake it was art with a soul

here's the wild part this wasn't just a

fluk creation by one guy who had too

much free time the level of

craftsmanship and thought behind it

points to a society that wasn't just

surviving they were thriving these folks

were capable of abstract thought

imagination in preserving their ideas in

a way that's lased more more than 12

Millennia that's the ultimate look what

we made

Flex now the ideal stands alone today

but chances are it wasn't the only one

of its kind wouldn't artifacts rarely

survive because well W and time don't

get along unless you've got something

like a magical beep bog to keep things

intact so for all we know this could

have been part of a much larger

tradition of artistry and spirituality

that just didn't survive the

Millennium the shagar idol might be the

Lone Survivor of an entire Mesolithic

art gallery and here's where it gets

even cooler this Idol puts its creators

on the same intellectual level as the

folks who built Monumental sites like

goe in Turkey just like those intricate

Stone pillars the shagar idol shows that

human creativity and advanced thinking

were thriving way earlier than most

history books give credit for

these people weren't dragging Knuckles

they were thinking big the carvings

themselves might even hold practical

knowledge maybe they recorded

information about the Stars changing

seasons or their environment stuff that

was crucial for survival back then

imagine if the shagar idol is the

Mesolithic equivalent of a how to

survive on Earth Manning if nothing else

it's a pretty impressive reminder of how

capable humans work were even in an age

when Mammoth Stakes were still on the

menu the shagar idol blows up The

Stereotype of early humans as primitive

cave dwellers these people were thinkers

creators and spiritual explorers who

weren't just trying to survive they

wanted to leave a

legacy it's like they knew they were

carving their way into history one

zigzag at a time

[Music]

the shagar idol isn't just some ancient

wooden knickknack it's a deliberate

thoughtful attempt to communicate

whoever carved this wasn't whittling

away their free time they were leaving

something behind something that mattered

the real question is what were they

trying to say let's pause for a second

and think about what it took to make

this thing it's 12,000 years old which

means they didn't have fancy tools or

IKEA style instructions carving a nearly

12ft wooden statue back then required

serious effort skill time and resources

that weren't exactly lying around this

wasn't a quick let's doodle on wood

project it was intentional the size the

intricate patterns the choice of durable

large wood it all screams this needs to

last some Scholars think the idol was

more than just a piece of art the

carvings could be a kind of Time Capsule

holding knowledge these people thought

was too important to lose maybe it was

guidance for their descendants rituals

to honor their ancestors or even a giant

hey don't mess this up sign for future

civilizations whatever it was it shows

these folks were playing the long game

and that's the thing the shagar idol

forces us to rethink what ancient humans

were all about we tend to imagine them

as Scrappy hunter gatherers just trying

to survive the day finding food avoiding

predators and figuring out how to stay

warm but this Idol tells a different

story these people weren't just

surviving they were thinking big they

were asking questions like what's our

place in the world and how do we make

sure people remember us they were

planners storytellers and philosophers

wrapped up in Mesolithic clothing the

shagar idol also fits into a broader

pattern think about gole deppe in Turkey

a site where ancient people carved

elaborate Stone pillars over 11,000

years ago just like those Builders their

creators of the shagar idol were trying

to preserve something maybe it was their

world view their knowledge or their

mythology these weren't isolated moments

of inspiration it's part of a deeply

human desire to leave a mark to create

something that outlasts us and here's

the kicker the shagar idol wasn't just a

message to the people of it time it's

speaking to us too it's a reminder that

even back then humans weren't just about

survival they were about meaning they

wanted to be remembered they wanted to

matter so yeah this 12,000 year old

chunk of wood isn't Just A Relic it's a

conversation starter and whether we

fully understand what it's saying or not

it's clear that the people who made it

had something important on their minds

and honestly that's kind of humbling

[Music]

okay so not everyone's on the same page

about the shagar idol some

archaeologists look at its intricate

carvings and say eh maybe it's just

decorative maybe it's inspired by nature

or maybe it was some kind of ritual

doodling but come on look at the thing

those carvings are way too detailed to

be chocked up to a prehistoric Arch and

graph session

what makes a shagar idol stand out isn't

just its age or even the carvings

themselves it's the fact that it

survived at all seriously wood from

12,000 years ago shouldn't exist anymore

the only reason we're talking about it

is because it spent all that time

marinating in a Siberian Pete bog and

Pete bogs their Nature's version of a

climate controlled safe their acidic

water chil temps and lack of oxygen made

them perfect for slowing Decay to a

crawl bacteria fungi they don't stand a

chance in that environment so while most

wooden artifacts crumble into dust

within decades the shagar idol hung on

like it was waiting for us to find it

this isn't just a oneoff thing either

Pete bogs Arctic Ice Desert Sands

they're the MVPs of natural preservation

think about ulie the ican that guy who's

been chilling literally in the Alps for

over 5,000 years or those ancient

manuscripts tucked away in Egyptian

caves these environments are like

accidental time capsules saving bits of

History we never see

otherwise without them the shagar idol

would have been long gone and its story

would have disappeared before anyone

knew it existed and let's talk about

those carvings they aren't just random

scratches they show real skill the

patterns are so precise that practically

scream look what I can do whoever made

this wasn't just surviving they were

thriving this wasn't a quick hack job

with a pointing rock it took tools

Advanced ones and a steady hand it's a

level of craftsmanship that makes you

wonder did these people have a whole

woodworking scene going on were they

innovators in tool making if so they

were way ahead of their time showing a

technical sophistication most of us

don't associate with the Mesolithic

period and here's the kicker the shagar

idol isn't just about what we found it's

about what we haven't how many other

Treasures like this are still buried out

there waiting for us to stumble across

them with modern tech like ground

penetrating radar and satellite imaging

we have tools that could revolutionize

how we search for the past imagine

what's still hidden in Peete bogs under

ice sheets or buried in ancient

riverbeds the idol is basically a neon

sign saying keep

digging this artifact isn't just a

preserved Relic it's a mashup of History

Innovation and a wakeup call for

archaeology its survival isn't just a

nod to the Past it's a challenge for the

future what other stories are out there

waiting to be told it's up to us to find

them

[Music]

the idea of the Lost Advan civilization

controversial sure but the shagar idol

keeps that fire burning from Atlantis to

Mew these Legends have been whispered

across Generations cropping up in every

corner of the world myths maybe but

myths that stubbornly refuse to faade

let's not just focus on physical

evidence it's about the mindset of the

people behind these creations these

weren't just groups scraping by with

sticks and stones own tools they were

thinkers dreamers and dare I say artists

they weren't just surviving they were

thriving leaving behind messages for a

world they couldn't begin to imagine and

somehow one of those messages ended up

in a Siberian bog now picture this a

culture living on the brink of an

unforgiving Ice Age they're watching

glaciers melt Rivers flood and

coastlines vanish like bad CGI in a

disaster movie they know their world is

changing forever and what do they do

about it Panic nah they create not just

survival tools but art something that

carries their knowledge their Spirit

their story forward the Shir Idol isn't

just an artifact it's their voice a

12,000-year-old whisper that says hey we

were here we mattered and we've got

something to tell you and that's where

the sketch profound the idol stops being

a static hunk of wood and becomes a

bridge I get goosebumps just thinking

about it a link between the world which

we barely understand and our future

where we're still fumbling to piece

everything together it's not just a

relic folks it's a

[Music]

connection thanks for hanging out with

me on this wild ride today I'm Ralph

that's wend and you've just wrapped up

another fascinating Adventure on the

Divergent files

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