Nampa figurine

rdf:langString Nampa figurine

rdf:langString Nampa Figurine

rdf:langString File:Nampa Figurine multiple profiles.png

rdf:langString The Nampa Figurine Front, back, and side profiles

rdf:langString Idaho State Historical Society Museum

rdf:langString Clay figurine

rdf:langString The Nampa figurine (also known as the Nampa Image or the Nampa Doll) is a 1.5 inches (38 mm) fired clay doll found near Nampa, Idaho in 1889. The figurine has been dyed red, possibly due to iron oxide deposition, and depicts a female figure with jewelry and clothing. The artifact has been the subject of substantial controversy over its apparent age. The initial estimates of the artifact placed its age at 2 million years old, significantly outdating any other clay artifacts and humanity's arrival in the Americas. While archeologists have debated whether the figurine was a hoax or not, the consensus is that the artifact is not 2 million years old. Archeologists George Frederick Wright, William Henry Holmes, and Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews have argued that the object descended rapidly due to a geological phenomenon or was displaced by the drilling mechanism that originally uncovered the figurine. Wright, whilst being a strong proponent of the object's validity, estimated the age in terms of thousands of years. Wright's support of the Nampa figurine's genuineness has been heavily criticized as being religiously motivated. Daniel Garrison Brinton and John W. Powell argued the artifact was a 19th century doll made by the Pocatello Indians, with modern day archeologists holding the belief the artifact was a hoax. Members of the Pocatello Native American tribe have also affirmed the figurine was a hoax. Due to the controversy surrounding the artifact's age, many conspiracy theories have arisen around the artifact's origin.