4,500 year old Doll Heads found in Siberia Adds to The 'oldest toy collection in the world'

3 very rare doll heads were unearthed in Siberia, the bodies of the dolls deteriorated away leaving just the 3 dolls heads.

Looks like a horse or a dragon or a dinosaur. This was found buried in a common grave along with a little girl and is made of an animal horn.


This doll head was found buried. The stuff of nightmares.


And this is also a head of a doll. Reminds me a little bit of the Easter Island style and is carved from soap stone.


The toys are from the Okunev culture and they have links to Native Americans. Pretty rare find.

The Okunev culture is seen as having links to Native Americans - and this is not the first time their toys have been found.

The rare discoveries of the pre-historic toys were made at the Itkol II burial ground in the Republic of Khakassia, southern Siberia.

The doll had ‘carefully worked out facial features’ and was made of soapstone - a soft rock made mostly of talc, said archeologist Dr Andrey Polyakov, from the Institute of History of Material Culture in St Petersburg.

www.siberiantimes.com...

Awesome find. Thank you for posting this.

The first photo could be a bird with some sort of horn or maybe a unicorn as well.

a reply to: LookingForABetterLife

I will look and see if I can find any other pics of the "horse". I want to see if the "horn" is centered on the head. Or if it is the left ear and the right ear is gone.

Can you imagine, people actually fashioned dolls for their kids.

Today we go buy it then go, here... go play.

Hmmmm, interesting.

Mimicking an ancient older practice in a former globally civilized world?

a reply to: intrptr

In my grandmother's day, early 1900's, she got dolls made from corn cobs and sticks. Too poor for real dolls. Just following the tradition from millenia prior.

a reply to: liveandlearn

Now the majority of dolls come from China and there are so many of them that they are given away to Goodwill.

My how times have changed.

Poignant. Little girl buried with her horse dolly.

Harte

The first one kind of looks like a deer to me. Deer have antlers too, horses don't. The other ones, I guess that guys were a little rough looking back then, it almost looks like a beard on one of them.

I don't know if I would call them "dolls" or "toys".

More like 'artifacts', 'figurines'.. is art.

originally posted by: seasonal

And this is also a head of a doll. Reminds me a little bit of the Easter Island style and is carved from soap stone.

for comparison

Oh wow!!! The first historical evidence of a brother ripping his sister’s dolls’ heads off!!! I bet they will discover a treasure trove of prehistoric cars with their wheels torn off nearby!

This is so exciting!

a reply to: seasonal

The beads on the first one look like remains of harness.

The scary one? 'Go to bed now or I'll give you the scary doll.'

Nice eyebrows on the soapstone head.

I wonder what stories were told with these dolls as the characters.

Digging up a little girls grave and taking the toys she has been put to rest with. Is that right?

Anyway, it looks like a horse to me. little girls love horses and animals like this. Horses probably roamed around where she lived so it would only be natural she would want some sort of toy of one to herself.

The others look creepy but fascinating. I always wonder what it was like to live back then.

originally posted by: toysforadults
Hmmmm, interesting.

Mimicking an ancient older practice in a former globally civilized world?

It's only four or five thousand years old. There were already cities that were over a thousand years old.

And these are 20 to 40 thousand years old:





Have a little browse at ice age art, you'll see the context

originally posted by: liveandlearn
a reply to: intrptr

In my grandmother's day, early 1900's, she got dolls made from corn cobs and sticks. Too poor for real dolls. Just following the tradition from millenia prior.

Too "Poor"? Hand made or factory made, lets see.
I wonder what those artifact dolls are worth today?

I wonder what a beanie baby is worth?

Wow, thank you for this! I make custom dollhouses and miniatures in 1/12th scale, and have just started with art dolls in the same scale. I love the idea that I am carrying on an "old tradition" , and makes me feel even more connected to the past.

Made my morning !!