Issue 1 (58)
| IDOL IN THE CONTEXT OF THE EARLY MESOLITHIC IN THE TRANS-URAL | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | 2018 | Number | 1(58) |
| Pages | 8-19 | Type | scientific article |
| UDC | 903.26 (470.5)”633 | BBK | 63.442.12(235.55) |
| Authors | Savchenko Svetlana N. Zhilin Mikhail G. Terberger Tomas Heussner Karl-Uwe |
Topic | SHIGIR IDOL: DATES, CONTEXTS, INTERPRETATIONS |
| Summary | The Great Shigir Idol discovered in 1890 in the course of a gold mining operation at the Shigir peat bog is the oldest known monumental wooden sculpture. In 2014 a team of archaeologists and scientists from Russia and Germany have undertaken a comprehensive study of idol. The original sculpture was 5.3 m high, the height of the surviving part was 3.4 meters. All in all (together with the images from the lost part) eight personages were represented on the Great Shigir Idol ― the upper figure with the three-dimensional head, three flat images on the face side, and four flat images on the back side of the body. It was established that the idol was made from a freshly cut tree trunk with the help of polished stone adzes and chisels. The team identified and measured 137 tree rings. The average annual growth rate was significantly slower than today which indicated the severe climatic conditions at the time. The sculpture was initially positioned vertically, probably on a stone foundation, and than it fell into the lake and sank in its shallow part at the time of peat formation, some of which was preserved in the ancient cracks. According to the AMS results together with the other available data the age of the idol was about 9,600–9,000 cal y. a., which corresponded to the beginning of the Mesolithic. The unique artifact was synchronous with the other similar striking finds from the South-East Anatolia. The items from those regions demonstrated that the spiritual world and the art of the hunters-gatherers of the early Holocene were a lot richer and more complex than it was believed earlier. | ||
| Keywords | Great Shigir idol, Mesolithic, Zauralye, Shigir peat bog, primitive art, spiritual world | ||
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