{"id":6569,"date":"2021-07-02T17:15:41","date_gmt":"2021-07-02T22:15:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.webfxonline.com\/?p=6569"},"modified":"2021-07-02T17:24:24","modified_gmt":"2021-07-02T22:24:24","slug":"4400-year-old-shamans-snake-staff-discovered-in-finland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.webfxonline.com\/?p=6569","title":{"rendered":"4,400-year-old shaman&#8217;s &#8216;snake staff&#8217; discovered in Finland"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video\"><video height=\"720\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1280 \/ 720;\" width=\"1280\" autoplay controls poster=\"https:\/\/www.webfxonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/snake_staff.png\" src=\"https:\/\/www.webfxonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/4400-year-old-shamans-snake-staff-discovered-in-Finland.mp4\"><\/video><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Researchers said the carved, wooden lifelike snake matches \u201cmagical\u201d staffs portrayed in ancient rock art from the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A 4,400-year-old life-size wooden snake unearthed in Finland may have been a staff used in \u201cmagical\u201d rituals by a Stone Age shaman, according to a study released Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The lifelike figurine, which was carved from a single piece of wood, is 21 inches long and about an inch thick at its widest, with what seems to be a very snake-like head with its mouth open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was found perfectly preserved in a buried layer of peat near the town of J\u00e4rvensuo, about 75 miles northwest of Helsinki, at a prehistoric wetland site that archaeologists think was occupied by Neolithic (late Stone Age) peoples 4,000 to 6,000 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s unlike anything else ever found in Finland, although a few stylized snake figurines have been found at Neolithic archaeological sites elsewhere in the eastern Baltic region and Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThey don\u2019t resemble a real snake, like this one,\u201d University of Turku archaeologist Satu Koivisto said in an email. \u201cMy colleague found it in one of our trenches last summer. \u2026 I thought she was joking, but when I saw the snake\u2019s head it gave me the shivers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cPersonally I do not like living snakes, but after this discovery I have started to like them,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-760w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2021-06\/210624-finland-snake-carving-jm-1250-af10b3.jpg\" alt=\"This 4000-year-old wooden carving of a snake was likely used as a staff by a Neolithic Shaman.\"\/><figcaption>The wooden carving of a snake is unlike anything else ever found in Finland.Satu Koivisto<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Koivisto and her colleague Antti Lahelma, an archaeologist at the University of Helsinki, are the co-authors of the study on the wooden snake<a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.15184\/aqy.2021.79\">&nbsp;published&nbsp;<\/a>in the journal Antiquity.<\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div><p id=\"pvc_stats_6569\" class=\"pvc_stats all  \" data-element-id=\"6569\" style=\"\"><i class=\"pvc-stats-icon medium\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" data-prefix=\"far\" data-icon=\"chart-bar\" role=\"img\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 512 512\" class=\"svg-inline--fa fa-chart-bar fa-w-16 fa-2x\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M396.8 352h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V108.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v230.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zm-192 0h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V140.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v198.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zm96 0h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V204.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v134.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zM496 400H48V80c0-8.84-7.16-16-16-16H16C7.16 64 0 71.16 0 80v336c0 17.67 14.33 32 32 32h464c8.84 0 16-7.16 16-16v-16c0-8.84-7.16-16-16-16zm-387.2-48h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8v-70.4c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v70.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8z\" class=\"\"><\/path><\/svg><\/i> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" alt=\"Loading\" src=\"https:\/\/www.webfxonline.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/page-views-count\/ajax-loader-2x.gif\" border=0 \/><\/p><div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Researchers said the carved, wooden lifelike snake matches \u201cmagical\u201d staffs portrayed in ancient rock art from the region. A 4,400-year-old life-size wooden snake unearthed in Finland may have been a staff used in \u201cmagical\u201d rituals <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.webfxonline.com\/?p=6569\" title=\"4,400-year-old shaman&#8217;s &#8216;snake staff&#8217; discovered in Finland\">[read more]<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n<p id=\"pvc_stats_6569\" class=\"pvc_stats all  \" data-element-id=\"6569\" style=\"\"><i class=\"pvc-stats-icon medium\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" data-prefix=\"far\" data-icon=\"chart-bar\" role=\"img\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 512 512\" class=\"svg-inline--fa fa-chart-bar fa-w-16 fa-2x\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M396.8 352h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V108.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v230.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zm-192 0h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V140.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v198.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zm96 0h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V204.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v134.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zM496 400H48V80c0-8.84-7.16-16-16-16H16C7.16 64 0 71.16 0 80v336c0 17.67 14.33 32 32 32h464c8.84 0 16-7.16 16-16v-16c0-8.84-7.16-16-16-16zm-387.2-48h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8v-70.4c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v70.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8z\" class=\"\"><\/path><\/svg><\/i> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" alt=\"Loading\" src=\"https:\/\/www.webfxonline.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/page-views-count\/ajax-loader-2x.gif\" border=0 \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6574,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-6569","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cool"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.11 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>4,400-year-old shaman&#039;s &#039;snake staff&#039; discovered in Finland -<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.webfxonline.com\/?p=6569\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"4,400-year-old shaman&#039;s &#039;snake staff&#039; discovered in Finland -\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Researchers said the carved, wooden lifelike snake matches \u201cmagical\u201d staffs portrayed in ancient rock art from the region. 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