--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Then there's the pillar statue in the…" description: "\"“Then there's the pillar statue in the semi-subterranean temple at Tiahuanaco [Bolivia]. Like the Totem Pole of Göbekli Tepe, it is anthropomorphic. Li..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/799/graham-hancock-10752_anthropomorphism_then-there-s-the-pillar-statue-in-the-se_1084202.jpg" --- # Then there's the pillar statue in the semi-subterranean… ![“Then there's the pillar statue in the semi-subterranean temple at Tiahuanaco [Bolivia]. Like the Totem Pole of Göbekli Tepe, it is anthropomorphic. Like the Totem Pole at Göbekli Tepe, it has serpents writhing up its side. Like the Totem Pole at Göbekli Tepe, the long fingers of its hands almost…” quote by Graham Hancock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/799/graham-hancock-10752_anthropomorphism_then-there-s-the-pillar-statue-in-the-se_1084202.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/799/graham-hancock-10752_anthropomorphism_then-there-s-the-pillar-statue-in-the-se_1084202.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/799/graham-hancock-10752_anthropomorphism_then-there-s-the-pillar-statue-in-the-se_1084202.jpg) > ““Then there's the pillar statue in the semi-subterranean temple at Tiahuanaco \[Bolivia\]. Like the Totem Pole of Göbekli Tepe, it is anthropomorphic. Like the Totem Pole at Göbekli Tepe, it has serpents writhing up its side. Like the Totem Pole at Göbekli Tepe, the long fingers of its hands almost meet in front of its body. The face is human not animal, however, and it's heavily bearded. Nonetheless, the figure of an animal is carved on the side of its head and this animal resembles no known species more closely than it does Toxodon, a sort of New World rhino that went extinct during the cataclysms at the end of the Ice Age around 12,000 years ago. This isn't pareidolia --the figure is definitely there. So there's only one question--and it's difficult to answer: is this a depiction of Toxodon, or is it some creature of the artist's imagination?”” [Graham Hancock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-hancock/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The statue’s ambiguous features spark debate on ancient knowledge versus artistic imagination. **In simple terms:** Unclear origins of a mysterious statue. Key Takeaway Explore multiple interpretations before concluding. Themes archaeology mythology interpretation Mood curious skeptical Type analytical inquisitive When to use this quote - museum curation - academic research - public education Key Concepts Iconography cultural diffusion ancient art Questions to Reflect On - Is the creature symbolic or literal? - What does this reveal about ancient imagination? A Different Perspective Interpretations may be biased by modern perspectives. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anthropomorphism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anthropomorphism/) [Cataclysm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cataclysm/) [Ice age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ice-age/) [Serpents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/serpents/) [Totem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/totem/) ## Related quotes > [ “Another point of interest about the Tiahuanaco \[in Bolivia\] monoliths is that their garments from the waist down are patterned in the form of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-hancock/another-point-of-interest-about-the-tiahuanaco-in-bolivia-monoliths/) [Graham Hancock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-hancock/) > [ “What would have made \[seeing Göbekli Tepe from Harran\] easier, in antiquity, would have been a tall tower annexed to the temple that once… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-hancock/what-would-have-made-seeing-g-bekli-tepe-from-harran-easier-in/) [Graham Hancock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-hancock/) > [“Berossos compiled his History from the temple archives of Babylon (reputed to have contained "public records" that had been preserved for "over 150,000 years").…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-hancock/berossos-compiled-his-history-from-the-temple-archives-of-babylon/) [Graham Hancock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-hancock/) > [“We are used to things starting out small and simple and then progressing--evolving--to become ever more complex and sophisticated, so this is naturally what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-hancock/we-are-used-to-things-starting-out-small-and-simple-and-then/) [Graham Hancock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-hancock/) > [“At Göbekli Tepe there is a creature, sculted in high-relief, identified by Klaus Schmidt as a beast of prey with splayed claws and powerful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-hancock/at-g-bekli-tepe-there-is-a-creature-sculted-in-high-relief-identified/) [Graham Hancock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-hancock/) > [With studio work, I'm always the bottom man on the totem pole.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lindsay-abaire/with-studio-work-i-m-always-the-bottom-man-on-the-totem-pole/) [David Lindsay-Abaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lindsay-abaire/) > [I was a sharecropper's son. That's as low as you can get on the totem pole.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-needham/i-was-a-sharecropper-s-son-that-s-as-low-as-you-can-get-on-the-totem/) [Hal Needham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-needham/) > [I'm usually the last man on the totem pole. Except for the sound effects and the final sound mix, the score is the last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-mancini/i-m-usually-the-last-man-on-the-totem-pole-except-for-the-sound/) [Henry Mancini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-mancini/) > [Look at it this way - a totem pole is just a decorated tree. My work is a confessional.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-bourgeois/look-at-it-this-way-a-totem-pole-is-just-a-decorated-tree-my-work-is/) [Louise Bourgeois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-bourgeois/) > [“If you’re so far down the totem pole that someone considers it a favor to you just to have you in their circle (no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-n-onuorah/if-you-re-so-far-down-the-totem-pole-that-someone-considers-it-a/) [Michelle N. Onuorah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-n-onuorah/) > [“He was the youngest and newest member of a four-man team. Hence, low man on the totem pole. Except that calling a new guy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-child/he-was-the-youngest-and-newest-member-of-a-four-man-team-hence-low/) [Lee Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-child/) ## More by Graham Hancock > [Whether Earth was deliberately terraformed, in other words, or whether it was seeded with the spores of life from crashed comets or whether, indeed,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-hancock/whether-earth-was-deliberately-terraformed-in-other-words-or-whether/) [Graham Hancock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-hancock/) > [I don't believe that consciousness is generated by the brain. I believe that the brain is more of a reciever of consciousness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-hancock/i-don-t-believe-that-consciousness-is-generated-by-the-brain-i/) [Graham Hancock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-hancock/) > [“The same solution--that Easter Island was once part of a much larger landmass--would also explain another, very different puzzle, namely the so-called Rongo Rongo…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-hancock/the-same-solution-that-easter-island-was-once-part-of-a-much-larger/) [Graham Hancock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-hancock/) > [“What is remarkable is that there are no traces of evolution from simple to sophisticated, and the same is true of mathematics, medicine, astronomy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-hancock/what-is-remarkable-is-that-there-are-no-traces-of-evolution-from/) [Graham Hancock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-hancock/) > [ “Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent, \[...\] came to teach \[the ancient inhabitants of Mexico\] the benefits of settled agriculture and the skills necessary to build… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-hancock/quetzalcoatl-the-feathered-serpent-came-to-teach-the-ancient/) [Graham Hancock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-hancock/) > [ “What would have made \[seeing Göbekli Tepe from Harran\] easier, in antiquity, would have been a tall tower annexed to the temple that once… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-hancock/what-would-have-made-seeing-g-bekli-tepe-from-harran-easier-in/) [Graham Hancock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-hancock/) > [“At Göbekli Tepe there is a creature, sculted in high-relief, identified by Klaus Schmidt as a beast of prey with splayed claws and powerful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-hancock/at-g-bekli-tepe-there-is-a-creature-sculted-in-high-relief-identified/) [Graham Hancock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-hancock/) > [I believe we are a species with amnesia, I think we have forgotten our roots and our origins. I think we are quite lost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-hancock/i-believe-we-are-a-species-with-amnesia-i-think-we-have-forgotten-our/) [Graham Hancock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-hancock/) > [Do we as adults have the right to make decisions about what we put in our own bodies and what we experience with our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-hancock/do-we-as-adults-have-the-right-to-make-decisions-about-what-we-put-in/) [Graham Hancock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-hancock/) > [“The "Garcilaso" mentioned by Markham is the chronicler Garcilaso Inca de la Vega, the son of a Spanish conquistador and an Inca princess, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-hancock/the-garcilaso-mentioned-by-markham-is-the-chronicler-garcilaso-inca/) [Graham Hancock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-hancock/) > [Science has often resisted new ideas and fought bitterly to prevent them coming on board.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-hancock/science-has-often-resisted-new-ideas-and-fought-bitterly-to-prevent/) [Graham Hancock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-hancock/) > [My sense is that we are missing a huge part of the human story. I think it's possible, indeed probable, that we are a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-hancock/my-sense-is-that-we-are-missing-a-huge-part-of-the-human-story-i/) [Graham Hancock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-hancock/) > [People think I'm a freemason, and I'm not. People think I believe the end of the world is coming on 21 December 2012, and I don't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-hancock/people-think-i-m-a-freemason-and-i-m-not-people-think-i-believe-the/) [Graham Hancock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-hancock/) > [“at Heliopolis, where the Pyramid Texts were compiled, and announced ahead of time to all the other major temples up and down the Nile.53…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-hancock/at-heliopolis-where-the-pyramid-texts-were-compiled-and-announced/) [Graham Hancock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-hancock/) > [“Bauval found that the Pyramids/Orion’s Belt correlation was general and obvious in all epochs, but specific and exact in only one: At 10,450 BC…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-hancock/bauval-found-that-the-pyramids-orion-s-belt-correlation-was-general/) [Graham Hancock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-hancock/) [Explore all 62 Graham Hancock quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-hancock/) ## More Anthropomorphism quotes > [I worry about anthropomorphism as a form of self-deception. (The Christian religion is an anthropomorphic account of the universe.)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-worry-about-anthropomorphism-as-a-form-of-self-deception-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The river loved to tell everybody (everybody being the sky, the wind, the few trees that grew around there, birds, deer and even the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brautigan/the-river-loved-to-tell-everybody-everybody-being-the-sky-the-wind/) [Richard Brautigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brautigan/) > [We know from the truths of evolution and ecology that we are all related and interdependent. Anthropomorphism (crediting animals with human emotions and traits)…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-fox/we-know-from-the-truths-of-evolution-and-ecology-that-we-are-all/) [Michael Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-fox/) > [Anthropocentrism gave rise to boredom, and when anthropomorphism was replaced by technocentrism, boredom became even more profound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/anthropocentrism-gave-rise-to-boredom-and-when-anthropomorphism-was/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Loving dogs is a question of anthropomorphism. We become attached to dogs because of the feelings we project on them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-berge/loving-dogs-is-a-question-of-anthropomorphism-we-become-attached-to/) [Pierre Berge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-berge/) > [“For any anthropomorphism we use to describe our dogs, we can ask two questions: One, is there a natural behavior this action might have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-horowitz/for-any-anthropomorphism-we-use-to-describe-our-dogs-we-can-ask-two/) [Alexandra Horowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-horowitz/) > [“Homo economicus was surreptitiously taken as the emblem and analogue for all living beings. A mechanistic anthropomorphism has gained currency. Bacteria are imagined to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-illich/homo-economicus-was-surreptitiously-taken-as-the-emblem-and-analogue/) [Ivan Illich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-illich/) > [What then is truth? A movable host of metaphors, metonymies, and anthropomorphisms: in short, a sum of human relations which have been poetically and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/what-then-is-truth-a-movable-host-of-metaphors-metonymies-and/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“A fox passing through the wood on business of his own stopped several minutes and sniffed. 'Hobbits!' he thought. 'Well, what next? I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-r-tolkien/a-fox-passing-through-the-wood-on-business-of-his-own-stopped-several/) [J.R.R. Tolkien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-r-tolkien/) > [“The problem is not that dolphins are dumber than we thought, but that our anthropomorphism inevitably makes it hard to understand an intelligence other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-zimmer/the-problem-is-not-that-dolphins-are-dumber-than-we-thought-but-that/) [Carl Zimmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-zimmer/) > [Talk of belief in these animals is not some kind of anthropomorphism. We simply cannot explain the kinds of problem solving and behavioral sophistication…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-kornblith/talk-of-belief-in-these-animals-is-not-some-kind-of-anthropomorphism/) [Hilary Kornblith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-kornblith/) > [“At least descriptive psychology is probably, taken as a whole, a form of anthropomorphism, a nibbling at our own limits.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/at-least-descriptive-psychology-is-probably-taken-as-a-whole-a-form/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [“There is an universal tendency amongst mankind to conceive all beings like themselves, and to transfer to every object those qualities, with which they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/there-is-an-universal-tendency-amongst-mankind-to-conceive-all-beings/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [In truth, one cannot, it seems, oppose mechanism and finalism, one cannot oppose mechanism and anthropomorphism, for if the functioning of a machine is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-canguilhem/in-truth-one-cannot-it-seems-oppose-mechanism-and-finalism-one-cannot/) [Georges Canguilhem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-canguilhem/) > [“This afternoon I sat at my window and alternately wrote at my new serial and watched a couple of dear, amusing, youngish maple-trees at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-montgomery/this-afternoon-i-sat-at-my-window-and-alternately-wrote-at-my-new/) [L.M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery/) [Browse all 27 Anthropomorphism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anthropomorphism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Then there's the pillar statue in the semi-subterranean temple at Tiahuanaco [Bolivia]. Like the Totem Pole of Göbekli Tepe, it is anthropomorphic. Like the Totem Pole at Göbekli Tepe, it has serpents writhing up its side. Like the Totem Pole at Göbekli Tepe, the long fingers of its hands almost meet in front of its body. The face is human not animal, however, and it's heavily bearded. Nonetheless, the figure of an animal is carved on the side of its head and this animal resembles no known species more closely than it does Toxodon, a sort of New World rhino that went extinct during the cataclysms at the end of the Ice Age around 12,000 years ago. This isn't pareidolia --the figure is definitely there. 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