Published on: 2026-08-15
Source: Official website of the State –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
What is common between an 11,000-year-old wooden sculpture, birch bark messages, and a house built from mammoth bones? All of these are amazing archaeological finds discovered on the territory of Russia.
August 15 is celebrated as Archaeologist Day — a holiday for those who literally collect our past bit by bit. And sometimes one such bit can change the understanding of an entire era.
We have gathered several discoveries that make you want to go on excavations yourself:
House made of mammoth bones
Near Voronezh, archaeologists discovered a circular structure about 40,000 years old. Its walls were made from more than 60 mammoth skulls and jaws, and the diameter of the building was about nine meters.
It turns out that tens of thousands of years ago, people were already creating complex structures and organizing the space around them.
A sculpture older than the Egyptian pyramids
The Great Shigir Idol is about 11,000 years old. It was carved from larch wood, and its surface was covered with geometric patterns and images of faces.
The tree was able to survive for millennia thanks to the peat bog in which the idol was discovered in 1890 in the Middle Urals. And researchers are still trying to decipher the meaning of its mysterious symbols.
Tattoos that have lasted more than two thousand years
In 1993, on the Ukok Plateau in Altai, the burial of a woman from the Pazyryk culture of the 5th–3rd centuries BCE was discovered — the famous Princess of Ukok.
Permafrost preserved her hair, clothing, and even intricate tattoos on her skin. Nearby, archaeologists found the burial of six horses with rich harnesses and household items.
Messages from the Middle Ages
In Veliky Novgorod, archaeologists are discovering birch bark documents from the 11th–15th centuries. And this is probably one of the most amazing ways to glimpse into the everyday life of the past.
People wrote to each other on birch bark about matters, money, family, and everyday concerns. Even children’s writing exercises have been preserved.
Almost a thousand years have passed, and our text messages are still the same…
Today, an archaeologist is no longer just a shovel and a brush. Researchers are assisted by drones, ground-penetrating radars, and 3D scanners. But the main thing remains the same — the desire to go where an unknown page of history may still be hidden.
And for students of the State University of Management, such an opportunity is much closer than it might seem!
At our university, there is The GUU expeditionary corps. Its participants go on real expeditions, engage in search operations, ecological projects, research, and help preserve the country’s historical and natural heritage.
So student life is not only about classes, tests, and lecture halls.
It’s also an opportunity to pack a backpack, go on an expedition, and one day touch history yourself.
Subscribe to the Telegram channel “Our GUU” Publication date: 15.08.2026
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