The Shigir Idol: The Oldest Wooden Sculpture in the World

Some antiquities leave us speechless because of their fabulous state of preservation. Others, because of unusual circumstances that will never be repeated. Finally, there are those whose very existence presents a huge challenge. Take the case of the Shigir Idol, found in a peat bog at a depth of four meters in January 1894. The idol is made of wood, so we shouldn't have found anything beyond a few splinters, but the latest study suggests it is more than 11,000 years old…

Unearthing the Idol

The modern history of this fabulous artifact began on January 24, 1894 in the Shigir peat bog, about a hundred kilometers from what we now know as the city of Yekaterinburg. Studies in that area had begun four decades earlier, after several prehistoric objects were discovered in an open-pit gold mine. The idol was extracted from the peat bog at a depth of four meters, and ten parts were recovered in total.

Reconstruction and Controversy

Professor D. I. Lobanov was in charge of the main reconstruction, forming a sculpture 2.8 meters high. However, the Russian archaeologist Vladimir Tolmachev proposed an alternative reconstruction in 1914. Apparently, Lobanov's work left some pieces aside, and the new configuration revealed an original height of 5.3 meters. Unfortunately, the lower parts of the idol were lost, and the only thing that remains of Tolmachev's version are drawings.

The Age Dispute

But there was an even bigger doubt than its size, and it is the real antiquity of the Shigir Idol. The first radiocarbon dating was done in the '90s and gave a result of 9,500-9,800 years, which experts considered improbable. The hunters and gatherers of the time simply didn't have the skill to work on such a large piece, or the symbolic richness that the idol exhibits on its surface...

... but a group of experts at the University of Göttingen in Germany carried out their own analysis... and concluded that the idol is a little over 11,500 years old. Parts of Europe and Asia were still emerging from the Würm glaciation. The idol had shattered all the rules. It was assumed that the first examples of ritual art on that scale were the product of sedentary farmers, 8,000 years ago: The idol proves the opposite. The era of hunters and gatherers was not an artistic desert as believed.

The Mystery of Its Survival

So why aren't there more examples? The most logical reason: They used wood. The Shigir Idol is a true anomaly in terms of preservation. Its presence in the peat bog, an acidic and anaerobic environment with very slow decomposition that kills microorganisms and causes a 'tanning' effect, was fundamental for it to remain relatively intact. And it also sets a new goal: Keep searching.

Source: The Siberian Times and The Guardian.