| Nampa Figurine | |
|---|---|
 The Nampa Figurine (above) Front, back, and side profiles (Below) | |
 | |
| Type | Clay figurine |
| Material | Quartz, Fired clay |
| Size | 1+1⁄2 inches (38 mm) |
| Created | Debated, likely late 1800s |
| Discovered | July 1889 Nampa, Idaho, Idaho, United States |
| Discovered by | Mark Kurtz |
| Present location | Idaho State Historical Society Museum |
| Culture | Pocatello Native American |
The Nampa figurine (also known as the Nampa Image or the Nampa Doll) is a 1.5-inch (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. While scholarly consensus today holds that the doll is a hoax, 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, 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.