Unique 5,000 year old figurine with feather headdress found in old potato field in Novosibirsk

1/10. The figurine was made of an as yet unknown organic material. Pictures: Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography SB RAS

'Absolutely stunning' ancient ornaments discovered with no known comparisons, presenting a puzzle for archeologists: which culture made this?

The finds were made on a pre-historic burial site Turist-2 close to the east bank of the Ob River in Novosibirsk.

The most sensational is a figurine made of an as yet unknown organic material featuring what appears to be a feather headdress.

Or could it be a halo atop the head of a deity?

Researchers will now work hard to decipher the meaning of this intriguing relic.

Feather headgear is not familiar in archeological sites in ancient Siberia - although they were in the Middle East perhaps one or two thousand years later - and leading Archeologist Vyacheslav Molodin has called this and other finds 'absolutely unique'

Head of the expedition, Dr Natalia Basova, outlined other unexpected finds.

'We found a figurine of a bird made of bone, and most likely it was sewn onto clothes or was a kind of pendant,' she said.

'There were four anthropomorphic figurines, made of mammoth tusk, sandstone, birch burl and an unknown organic material, which needs to be checked. [...] siberiantimes.com


Actualización. Figurilla prehistórica con llamativo tocado hallada cerca de Novosibirsk
Las dataciones preliminares del yacimiento lo sitúan en el tercer milenio a.C.

Los hallazgos encontrados en la excavación de un solar en la ciudad siberiana de Novosibirsk han presentado un curioso puzle cultural a sus excavadores. Entre losr estos de una necrópolis cuya tipología se corresponde con la cultura Krotovo del Bronce medio, se han documentado unas figurillas, algunas de ellas antropomorfas, sin paralelos en esta cultura, y con algunas similitudes con otras culturas con diferentes áreas geográficas de influencia o diferentes rituales funerarios. De entre los hallazgos destaca especialmente una figurilla antropomorfa, realizada con un material orgánico no identificado, que parece portar un llamativo tocado de plumas. Los investigadores se afanan ahora en caracterizar el conjunto y dar respuesta a los interrogantes que plantea...