The Shigir idol is one of the most significant exhibits of the Sverdlovsk Regional Museum of Local Lore. It was discovered in 1890 while developing a gold mine. The monument of ancient art, which had lain underground for many thousands of years, did not immediately receive worldwide fame and recognition. The large Shigir idol remained part of the museum's storerooms for more than a century, and only at the end of the last century did scientists begin to take a serious interest in it. But first things first.
Nakhodka
At the end of the 19th century gold began to be mined in the Urals. The prospectors did not ignore the area of the Shigir peat bog. Precious metal was mined in deep mines. An impressive layer of peat hid not only gold: almost from the very beginning of mining, workers began to find a variety of ancient household items. Shards of crockery, ritual figurines and other small traces of bygone days were the precursor to a more impressive discovery.
24 January 1890, from a depth of four meters, the wooden parts of an impressive sculpture were raised to the light. Separate elements, apparently, were once a single whole, made from a larch trunk. The discovered monument of ancient art was named the "Big Shigir Idol" and was donated to the museum.
Two reconstructions
The first attempt to return the idol to its original form was made by the curator D. I. Lobanov. Today, his version of the reconstruction is recognized as unsuccessful. In his work, D. I. Lobanov used only a part of the elements of the idol, the sculpture turned out to be 2.8 meters high.
Somewhat later, in 1914, another, but already more successful reconstruction was carried out. Archaeologist V. Ya. Tolmachev noticed obvious flaws in the alleged structure of the idol: the individual elements were not connected with each other, did not form a single whole. The scientist developed his own reconstruction system. After the changes, the Shigir idol "grew" to 5.3 m.
The great value of Tolmachev's work lies not only in discovering the internal logic of the connection of individual parts, but also in detailed sketches, which even today allow us to get a more complete picture of the monument of ancient art.
Shigir idol description
The sculpture is crowned with a two-faced head. The body of the idol, also called the body, looks like a flat board decorated with an ornament.
On closer examination, Tolmachev found several faces on it. Each of them, together with the ornament, forms a separate figure, not like the others. The scientist described and sketched five such faces (together with the head - six). Three of them were located on the front of the idol and two onnegotiable. Some images are characterized by the so-called skeletal style (skeleton elements are visible on the figure).
The lower part of the idol resembles legs: it has the shape of a cone with a notch at the base. According to scientists, the idol stood upright, leaning on a pillar. They didn't blast him into the ground.
Today the Shigir idol, the photo of which can be seen in the article, consists of only two parts (total height - 3.5 m). Museum visitors are shown the upper element, ending with a head, and the lower one, hewn into a cone. The middle insert disappeared under unknown circumstances at the beginning or middle of the last century. Today, one can judge about it only by Tolmachev's sketches.
Monument of ancient culture
The ornaments of the idol today do not have an unambiguous interpretation. If each part of the idol, ending with a mask, personifies one or another spirit, their vertical placement may indicate a hierarchy of higher powers that existed among the ancient inhabitants of the Urals.
The outlines of each of the parts contain the so-called spots, two small segments. These elements are typical for the Ural images. Scientists suggest that they symbolize the soul or heart. The location of the “spots” on the left side speaks in favor of the latest version.
Ornaments can also describe cosmogonic myths (the history of the appearance of the world, the origin of people and all living beings). In this case, the vertical arrangement conveysthe sequence of events that took place.
Professor V. Chudinov's version stands apart. He enlarged the ornament on the computer and got images that looked like letters and inscriptions. According to the professor, the idol represents the ancient Slavic goddess Mara, who was in charge of illness and death.
Value
The Shigir idol attracted serious attention of scientists only in 1997. Then the employees of two institutes in Moscow and St. Petersburg independently carried out a radiocarbon analysis of the idol. The Shigir idol, whose age was estimated at 9.5 thousand years, turned out to be older than the Egyptian pyramids! Now the idol has gained worldwide fame.
For the largest and most ancient idol, a special showcase was built, which allowed it to be displayed to visitors without the threat of further destruction. The exhibition "Shigirskaya storeroom" began to operate in the museum, where, in addition to the idol itself, other finds from this region were placed.
New identities
The idol's adventures didn't end there. In 2003, during the planned installation of the exposition, the seventh mask was discovered on the reverse side of the sculpture, which Tolmachev had not noticed at the time. There were suggestions that certain parts of the idol symbolize the phases of the moon, and the idol itself is an ancient calendar of the night star.
Most recently, in August 2015, another eighth mask was found. It is located on the upper part of the body. Face detection has becomesurprise for scientists. It was found while examining the surface of the idol with a microscope.
Age verification
The discovery of the eighth face was preceded by another sensation. German scientists in June last year became interested in the idol and offered to conduct an additional examination for a more accurate dating of the monument. The result of their work stunned the whole world. The Shigir idol turned out to be 1.5 thousand years older than expected. Today, its age is estimated at 11,000 years!
Such an ancient monument makes it necessary to review the entire history of the development of civilization. The large Shigir idol in the Urals testifies to the rapid pace of cultural development in this region.
Not all the secrets of this incredible ancient monument have been revealed. The Shigir idol, whose photo, after the new dating, spread all over the world, is still in no hurry to talk about its original purpose. So far, scientists' theories are based only on conjectures and assumptions. However, there is hope that in the near future the secret of the Shigir find will be revealed, and along with it other circumstances of the rapid development of culture in the Urals will become known.
