The fascinating Shigir idol is back in the news – or at least at https://siberiantimes.com/science/casestudy/features/the-awesome-shigir-… … the tall idol goes back to the early Holocene period and is thought to represent an ancient spirit god. Guesswork of course and somebody like Martin Sweatman might say it was perhaps a representation of a sky god. It is made of larch rather than from something durable like stone and only survived by falling into a peat bog (or the paleo lake that became a peat bog at a much later date). It was recovered in the 19th century by Russian gold prospectors. Now it is being suggested it stood tall over the long gone Shigir paleo lake. Another fact recently found is that it only stood in that position for 20 to 30 years – before toppling over into the lake/bog. This theory seems to revolve around its similarity to a totem pole – even to the carvings. Unfortunately, there is no evidence the lower portion of the idol was ever in a hole in the ground. Therefore it is being suggested it was propped up against a tree or a rock face.
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… It was created 11,500 years ago – at around the same time as the Gobekli Tepe structures (way down at the top of the Levant). Both display evidence of artistic talent – and symbolical shapes and etchings. It could have been tied down with straps, it has been suggested, , or could have been situated on a floating raft in the lake.
