The Great Shigir Idol_part 7

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The Great Shigir Idol was unearthed in 1890 during a gold mining operation at the Shigirpeat bog and is now recognized as the oldest known monumental wooden sculpture ever discovered. In 2014, a team of archaeologists and scientists from Russia and Germany embarked on an exhaustive study of this ancient relic. The original sculpture stood at an impressive 5.3 meters tall, while its surviving portion measured 3.4 meters in height. Upon careful examination, it was determined that eight personages were represented on the Great Shigir Idol, as evidenced by images from both the preserved and lost parts. It is believed that the idol was crafted from a freshly cut tree trunk using polished stone adzes and chisels. Initially, the sculpture stood upright on a stone foundation, but it eventually fell into the lake and sank in its shallow area during peat formation, leaving behind some of its ancient cracks preserved. According to AMS results combined with other available data, the age of the idol was approximately 9,600-9,000 years ago, corresponding to the beginning of the Mesolithic period.