Shigir Idol - The Mesolithic Art

Shigir Idol, oldest known wooden sculpture in the world, made during Mesolithic period, shortly after end of last Ice Age. Wood it was carved from is approximately 12,000 years old. (Sverdlovsk History Museum, Yekaterinburg, Russia)

Sculpture was discovered on January 24, 1890 at a depth of 4m in peat bog of Shigir, on eastern slope of Middle Urals, near village of Kalata (modern Kirovgrad), 100km from Yekaterinburg, Russia.

It was extracted in ten parts. Piece was originally 5.3m tall. Sadly, parts of it went missing during Soviet Era. Now only 2.8m remain, along with sketches drawn in 1914 by Russian archaeologist Vladimir Tolmachev.