Big Shigir idol: photo, age, description

Shigir idol - one of the most significantexhibits of the Sverdlovsk Regional Museum of Local History. It was discovered in 1890 when developing a gold mine. A monument of ancient art, which for many thousands of years lay underground, did not immediately gain worldwide recognition and recognition. The Great Shigir idol remained a part of the museum's storehouses for more than a century, and only at the end of the last century did scientists seriously become interested in it. But first things first.

The find

At the end of the XIX century gold began to be extracted in the Urals. Did not ignore the miners and the area of ​​the Shigir peat bog. Precious metal was mined in deep mines. The impressive layer of peat was hidden not only by gold: practically from the very beginning of extraction, workers began to find various ancient objects of everyday life. Shards of the dishes, ritual figurines and other small traces of long-past days were the threshold of a more impressive discovery.

On January 24, 1890, from a depth of four meterslight raised the wooden parts of the impressive sculpture. Individual elements, apparently, once were a single whole, made from a larch trunk. The discovered monument of ancient art was called "The Great Shigir Idol" and was donated to the museum.

Two reconstructions

The first attempt to return the original image to the idolwas undertaken by the custodian DI Lobanov. Today, his version of the reconstruction is recognized as unsuccessful. In his work DI Lobanov used only a part of the idol elements, the sculpture turned out to be 2.8 meters high.

A little later, in 1914, was carried outAnother, but more successful reconstruction. Archaeologist V. Ya. Tolmachev noticed obvious flaws in the supposed structure of the idol: the individual elements were not connected with each other, they did not constitute a single whole. The scientist has developed his own reconstruction system. After the changes, the Shigir idol "grew" to 5.3 m.

The tremendous value of Tolmachev's work is notonly in the discovery of 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 by a two-faced head. The body of the image, also called the body, looks like a flat plaque decorated with ornament.

Upon close examination Tolmachev discoveredit has several faces. Each of them forms, together with the ornament, a separate figure, unlike the others. The scientist described and sketched five such disguises (together with the head - six). Three of them were located on the front of the idol and two - on the back. For some images, the so-called skeleton style is characteristic (the skeleton elements are visible in the figure).

The lower part of the idol is like a leg: it has the shape of a cone with a notch in the base. According to the scientists' assumptions, the idol was standing upright, leaning on the pillar. He was not torn to the ground.

Today, the Shigir idol, whose photo can besee in the article, consists of only two parts (total height - 3.5 m). Visitors to the museum are shown the top element, crowned by the head, and the bottom, hewn on the cone. The middle insert disappeared under unknown circumstances at the beginning or the middle of the last century. About her today you can judge only by sketches of Tolmachev.

Monument of Ancient Culture

Ornaments of the idol to date do not haveunambiguous interpretation. If each part of the image, which ends with a mask, represents one or another spirit, their vertical placement may point to the hierarchy of higher forces that existed among the ancient inhabitants of the Urals.

The outlines of each part contain bothcalled spots, two small segments. These elements are typical of the Urals 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 and 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 conveys the sequence of events that occurred.

The version of Professor V. Chudinov stands apart. He increased the ornamentation on the computer and received images similar to letters and inscriptions. According to the professor, the idol is the ancient Slavic goddess Maru, who was in charge of illness and death.

Value

Serious attention of scholars Shigir idol attractedto myself only in 1997. Then employees of two institutes in Moscow and St. Petersburg independently conducted a radiocarbon analysis of the statue. Shigir idol, whose age was estimated at 9.5 thousand years, was older than the Egyptian pyramids! Now the idol has gained worldwide fame.

For the biggest and oldest idol we have builtA special showcase that allowed visitors to demonstrate it without the threat of further destruction. In the museum, the exhibition "Shigir Pantry" began to operate, where besides the idol itself, other finds from this region were also placed.

New faces

On this the adventure of the idol did not end. In 2003, during the planned installation of the exposition, the seventh face was found on the back of the sculpture, which Tolmachev did not notice at the time. There were suggestions that some parts of the idol symbolize the phases of the moon, and the idol itself is the oldest calendar of the night luminary.

Most recently, in August 2015, was foundand one more, the eighth person. It is located on the upper part of the body. Discovery of the face became a surprise for scientists. He was found in the process of studying the surface of the idol with a microscope.

Refinement of age

Detection of the eighth face was preceded by anothersensation. 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 was older by 1,5 thousand years than it was supposed. Today his age is estimated at 11 thousand years!

Such an ancient monument makes it necessary to revise the entire history of the development of civilization. The Great Shigir idol in the Urals testifies to the rapid pace of cultural development in this region.

Far from all the secrets of this incredible ancientThe monument is uncovered. Shigir idol, whose photo after the new dating flew around the world, still does not hurry to talk about his original purpose. While theories of scientists are based only on conjectures and assumptions. However, there is a hope that in the near future the mystery of the Shigir's discovery will be revealed, and with it other circumstances of the rapid development of culture in the Urals will become known.

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