Rendering perspective in the carvings of the Great Shigir idol

Present article gives an overview of different topics related to the history of studying the Great Shigir Idol that was found in a peat bog in the Middle Urals. The starting point of this overview is 1916 when Vladimir Tolmachev published the most explicit graphic reconstruction of the Idol, and covers contemporary days marked by new important discoveries. The present article considers different opinions of the researchers regarding the dating of the Idol as well as interpretations of the patterns engraved on the wooden sculpture. Special consideration is given to the materials from the Eneolithic settlement of Volvoncha I by the river Konda, Western Siberia; these materials allowed to date the anthropomorphic ornamentations in X-Ray style (skeleton variant) back to the III millennium B.C. Figurative patterns from the Rear Chamber of the Ignatievka Cave (Upper Paleolithic) were involved in a search for the patterns similar to the ones found on the Shigir Igol. These figurative patterns led to the discovery of the diclinous anthropomorphic characters placed at the base of the Idol. New radiocarbon dating obtained in the latest years at the research centers of Russia and Germany indicates the early Holocene age of the Idol and thus refers the search for parallels to the Ice Age monuments of art. We are talking not only about the cave paintings but also about the art pieces of small dimensions found among Western European monuments that use the artistic device of the perspective. Under these premises, we consider some parts of the chevron ornamentations that tower above certain faces on the Idol body. The author believes that each element forming chevrons may represent a separate stylized anthropomorphic image. New data on artwork narrow the chronological range between the Shigir and the Ignatievka. This gives convincing parallelism. Despite the differences in the technique of the embodiment of anthropomorphic figures from peat bogs and caves (wood carving and painting in red pigment with the inclusion of organic material on the cave arch), in a manner of execution (X-Ray style and lineal style), the compared images from the Shigir and Ignatievka share common features. This arrangement is full-face, bent lower limbs, a single technique in the transmission of sex und ultimate stylization. Anthropomorphic images reproduced in full face in skeletal or X-ray style, it is proposed to combine the concept of “Shigir style”. Apparently, it was widely distributed in the fine arts of the populations of the Northern Eurasia in prehistory and Middle Ages.

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