Shigirsky idol is one of the most significant exhibits of the Sverdlovsk Regional Museum of Local Lore. It was discovered in 1890 when developing a gold mine. The monument of ancient art, lying for many thousands of years underground, did not immediately receive worldwide fame and recognition. For more than a century, the great Shigirsky idol remained part of the museum’s storerooms, and only at the end of the last century did scientists become seriously interested in it. But first things first.
Find
At the end of the 19th century, gold was mined in the Urals. Prospectors also did not ignore the area of Shigirsky peat bog. Precious metal was mined in deep mines. An impressive layer of peat hid not only gold: almost from the very beginning of extraction, workers began to find a variety of ancient household items. Shards of dishes, ritual figures and other small traces of bygone days were the threshold of a more impressive discovery.
On January 24, 1890, wooden parts of an impressive sculpture were raised from a depth of four meters. The individual elements, apparently, were once a whole made from the trunk of a larch. The discovered monument of ancient art was called the “Big Shigirsky Idol” and was donated to the museum.
Two reconstructions
The first attempt to restore the idol to its original form was made by the keeper D.I. Lobanov. Today, its reconstruction option is recognized as unsuccessful. In his work, D.I. Lobanov used only part of the elements of the idol, the sculpture turned out to be 2.8 meters high.
A little later, in 1914, another, but 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, they 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 enormous value of Tolmachev’s work lies not only in the discovery of the internal logic of the connection of individual parts, but also in detailed sketches, which even today provide a more complete picture of the ancient art monument.
Shigirsky idol: description
The sculpture is crowned with a two-faced head. The body of the idol, also called the body, has the appearance of a flat board decorated with ornaments.
Upon careful 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 masks (six with his head). Three of them were located on the front of the idol and two on the back. Some images are characterized by the so-called skeletal style (skeleton elements are visible in the figure).
The lower part of the idol resembles legs: it has the shape of a cone with a recess in the base. According to scientists, the idol stood upright, leaning on a pole. He was not blown into the ground.
Today, the Shigirsky 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 the head, and the lower, hewn on a cone. The middle insert disappeared under unknown circumstances at the beginning or middle of the last century. Today it can only be judged by the sketches of Tolmachev.
Monument of ancient culture
Idol ornaments 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 part contain so-called spots, two small segments. These elements are characteristic of the Ural images. Scientists suggest that they symbolize the soul or heart. In favor of the latest version says the location of the "spots" on the left side.
Ornaments can also describe cosmogonic myths (the history of the appearance of the world, the origin of people and all living creatures). In this case, the vertical arrangement conveys the sequence of events.
Standing apart is the version of Professor V. Chudinov. He enlarged the ornament on the computer and received images that looked like letters and inscriptions. According to the professor, the idol is the ancient Slavic goddess Mara, who was in charge of illness and death.
Value
Shigirsky idol attracted serious attention of scientists only in 1997. Then the employees of the two institutes in Moscow and St. Petersburg independently conducted a radiocarbon analysis of the image. Shigirsky idol, whose age was estimated at 9.5 thousand years, turned out to be older than the Egyptian pyramids! Now the idol has gained world 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 museum opened the exhibition "Shigirskaya pantry", where in addition to the idol itself, other finds from this region were also placed.
New faces
The adventures of the idol did not end there. In 2003, during the planned installation of the exposition, the seventh mask was discovered on the back of the sculpture, which Tolmachev had not noticed at one time. There were suggestions that the individual parts of the idol symbolize the phases of the moon, and the idol itself is the oldest calendar of the night luminary.
More recently, in August 2015, another, eighth mask was found. It is located on the upper part of the body. Face detection was a surprise to scientists. He was found in the process of studying the surface of an idol using a microscope.
