The Great Shigir Idol_part 4

The Great Shigir Idol discovered in 1890 in the course of a gold mining operation at the Shigirpeat bog is the oldest known monumental wooden sculpture. In 2014 a team of archaeologists andscientists from Russia and Germany have undertaken a comprehensive study of idol. The originalsculpture was 5.3 m high, the height of the surviving part was 3.4 meters. All in all (together withthe images from the lost part) eight personages were represented on the Great Shigir Idol. It was established that the idol was made from a freshly cut treetrunk with the help of polished stone adzes and chisels. 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 peatformation, 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.