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- Информация / История цивилизаций, ключевых культур и этносов-народов / МЕЗОЛИТ / Early art in the Urals: new research on the wooden sculpture from Shigir [Abstract, Bibliography] // Antiquity, Vol. 92, Issue 362, April 2018, pp. 334-350 https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/early-art-in-the-urals-new-research-on-the-wooden-sculpture-from-shigir/1EE151AB1E571968B10267E48B78362A /

Early art in the Urals: new research on the wooden sculpture from Shigir [Abstract, Bibliography] // Antiquity, Vol. 92, Issue 362, April 2018, pp. 334-350 https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/early-art-in-the-urals-new-research-on-the-wooden-sculpture-from-shigir/1EE151AB1E571968B10267E48B78362AEarly art in the Urals: new research on the wooden sculpture from Shigir [Abstract, Bibliography] // Antiquity, Vol. 92, Issue 362, April 2018, pp. 334-350 https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/early-art-in-the-urals-new-research-on-the-wooden-sculpture-from-shigir/1EE151AB1E571968B10267E48B78362A



Early art in the Urals: new research on the wooden sculpture from Shigir

 
Abstract

The carved wooden object uncovered from the Shigir peat bog in the Sverdlovsk region towards the end of the nineteenth century remains one of the oldest, known examples of monumental anthropomorphic sculpture from anywhere in the world. Recent application of new analytical techniques has led to the discovery of new imagery on its surface, and has pushed the date of the piece back to the earliest Holocene. The results of these recent analyses are placed here in the context of local and extra-local traditions of comparable prehistoric art. This discussion highlights the unique nature of the find and its significance for appreciating the complex symbolic world of Early Holocene hunter-gatherers.

 
 
Copyright
 
Corresponding author
*Author for correspondence (Email: thomas.terberger@nld.niedersachsen.de)
 
References
AbramovaZ.A. 1995L'art paléolithique d'Europe orientale et de SibérieGrenobleJérôme Millon.Google Scholar
BahnP. & PettittP.B. (ed.). 2009Britain's oldest art: the Ice Age cave art of Creswell CragsSwindonEnglish Heritage.Google Scholar
Bronk RamseyC. 2009Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon datesRadiocarbon 51337–60. https://doi.org/10.2458/azu_js_rc.51.3494CrossRef | Google Scholar
ChairkinaN.M. 2010Peat-bog sites in the Trans-UralsArchaeology, Ethnology and Anthropology of Eurasia 388592https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aeae.2011.02.007CrossRef | Google Scholar
ChairkinaN.M.KuzminY.V. & BurrG.S.2013Chronology of the perishables: first AMS 14C dates of wooden artefacts from Aeneolithic–Bronze Age waterlogged sites in the Trans-Urals, RussiaAntiquity 87418–29. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00049036CrossRef | Google Scholar
d'ErricoF. 1994L'art grave azilien de la technique à la signification (Gallia Préhistoire supplement 31). ParisCNRS.Google Scholar
DietrichO.HeunM.NotroffJ.SchmidtK. & ZarnkowM.2012The role of cult and feasting in the emergence of Neolithic communities: new evidence from Göbekli Tepe, south-eastern TurkeyAntiquity 86674–95. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00047840CrossRef | Google Scholar
GhemişC.ClottesJ.GélyB. & Prud'hommeF.2011An exceptional archaeological discovery: the ‘Art Gallery’ in Coliboaia Cave, Apuseni Mountains, RomaniaActa Archaeologica Carpathica 46518.Google Scholar
HansenS. 2007Bilder vom Menschen der Steinzeit (Archäologie in Eurasien 20). MainzPhilipp von Zabern.Google Scholar
HansenS. 2014Neolithic figurines in Anatolia, in ÖzdoğanM.BaşgelenN. & KuniholmP. (ed.) The Neolithic in Turkey 6265–92. IstanbulArkeoloji ve Sanat.Google Scholar
HartzS.TerbergerT. & ZhilinM.2010New AMS-dates for the Upper Volga Mesolithic and the origin of microblade technology in EuropeQuartär 57155–69.Google Scholar
HauptmannH. 2003Eine frühneolithische Kultfigur aus Urfa, in ÖzdoğanM.HauptmannH. & BaşgelenN. (ed.) From village to cities: early villages in the Near East623–36. IstanbulArkeoloji ve Sanat.Google Scholar
HauptmannH. & SchmidtK.2007Anatolien vor 12.000 Jahren. Die Skulpturen des Frühneolithikums, in KarlsruheBadisches Landesmuseum (ed.) Vor 12.000 Jahren in Anatolien. Die ältesten Monumente der Menschheit6773KarlsruheKonrad Theiss.Google Scholar
HeikelA. 1894Antiquites de la Siberie occidentale (Memoires de la Societe finno-ougrienne VI). HelsingforsSociété de littérature finnoise.Google Scholar
KabacinskiJ.HartzS. & TerbergerT.2011Elks in the Early Stone Age art of the northern lowlandsPrähistorische Zeitschrift 86151–64. https://doi.org/10.1515/pz.2011.010CrossRef | Google Scholar
KozłowskiJ.K. 1992L'art de la préhistoire en Europe orientaleParisCNRS.Google Scholar
LillieM.ZhilinM.SavchenkoS. & TaylorM.2005. Carpentry dates back to Mesolithic. Antiquity Project Gallery 79(305). Available at: http://www.antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/lillie/ (accessed 6 September 2017).Google Scholar
PetrinV.I. & ŠirokovV.N.1995Die Ignatievka-Höhle (Ural). Jungpaläolithische Höhlenbilder und einige Aspekte ihrer InterpretationJahrbuch des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums Mainz 38, 1991 (1995): 1731.Google Scholar
PłonkaT. 2003The portable art of Mesolithic EuropeWrocławUniversity of Wrocław Press.Google Scholar
ReimerP.J.BardE.BaylissA.BeckJ.W.BlackwellP.G.Bronk RamseyC.BuckC.E.ChengH.EdwardsR.L.FriedrichM.GrootesP.M.GuildersonT.P.HaflidasonH.HajdasI.HattéC.HeatonT.J.HoffmannD.L.HoggA.G.HughenK.A.KaiserK.F.KromerB.ManningS.W.NiuM.ReimerR.W.RichardsD.A.ScottE.M.SouthonJ.R.StaffR.A.TurneyC.S.M. & van der PlichtJ.2013IntCal13 and Marine13 radiocarbon age calibration curves 0–50,000 years cal BPRadiocarbon 551869–87. https://doi.org/10.2458/azu_js_rc.55.16947CrossRef | Google Scholar
SavchenkoS.N. 1999The history of formation of the collection of Shigir antiquities in Sverdlovsk regional museum, in 120 years of archaeology of the eastern slope of the Urals: from the history of the Urals archaeology. The spiritual culture of the Urals4653YekaterinburgUrals State University.Google Scholar
SavchenkoS.N. & ZhilinM.G.2004About new details of the big Shigir idol, in The fourth readings in the memory of Bers130–35. YekaterinburgAqua.Google Scholar
ŠčelinskijV.E. & ŠirokovV.N.1999Kapova und Ignatievka: die altsteinzeitlichen Bilderhöhlen im Ural (Thorbecke Speläo 5). SigmaringenThorbecke.Google Scholar
SchmidtK. 2007Die Steinkreise und die Reliefs des Göbekli Tepe, in KarlsruheBadisches Landesmuseum (ed.) Vor 12.000 Jahren in Anatolien. Die ältesten Monumente der Menschheit8396KarlsruheKonrad Theiss.Google Scholar
SerikovY.B. 2000The Paleolithic and Mesolithic of the Middle Eastern UralsNizhnii TagilNizhnii Tagil Social-Pedagogical Academy (in Russian).Google Scholar
TusaS.di MaidaG.PastoorsA.PiezonkaH.WenigerG.-Ch. & TerbergerT.2013The Grotta di Cala dei Genovesi—new studies on the Ice Age cave art on SicilyPrähistorische Zeitschrift 88122https://doi.org/10.1515/pz-2013-0001CrossRef | Google Scholar
ShiyatovS.G. n.d.. International tree ring database. Available at: www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo-search/study/4766 (accessed 12 March 2018).Google Scholar
VeilSt. & TerbergerT.2009Kunst und Umwelt im Wandel, in PlanckD.HeiligmannJ. & ConardN.J. (ed.) Eiszeit: Kunst und Kultur347–51. OstfildernThorbecke.Google Scholar
ZaretskayaN.E.PanovaN.K.ZhilinM.G.AntipinaT.G.UspenskayaO.N. & SavchenkoS.N.2014Geochronology, stratigraphy, and evolution of Middle Uralian peatlands during the Holocene (exemplified by the Shigir and Gorbunovo peat bogs)Stratigraphy and Geological Correlation 22632–54. https://doi.org/10.1134/S0869593814060082CrossRef | Google Scholar
ZhilinM.G. 2007The Early Mesolithic of the Upper Volga: selected problems, in MasojćM.PłonkaT.GinterB. & KozłowskiK. (ed.) Contributions to the Central European Stone Age89104WrocławInstitute of Archaeology, University of Wrocław.Google Scholar
ZhilinM.G. 2010Mesolithic zoomorphic perforated antler staff heads from central Russia and Eastern Urals: ceremonial weapons or shaman's staves?, in Legrand-PineauA. & SidéraI. (ed.) Ancient and modern bone artefacts from America to Russia: cultural, technological and functional signature (British Archaeological Reports International series 2136): 135–40. OxfordArchaeopress.Google Scholar
ZhilinM.G. & SavchenkoS.2010A ‘hoard’ of bone arrowheads from the site Beregovaya II in Eastern Urals area, in DavudovO.M. (ed.) Problems of archaeology of Eurasia302–15. MakhachkalaDagestan Branch of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (in Russian).Google Scholar
ZhilinM.G.SavchenkoS.N.NikulinaE.A.SchmölckeU.HartzS. & TerbergerT.2014Eleven bone arrowheads and a dog coprolite—the Mesolithic site of Beregovaya 2, Urals region (Russia)Quartär 61165–87.Google Scholar
ZhilinM.G.KosinskayaL.L. & SavchenkoS.N.2017Stone tools for chopping in the Mesolithic of the Middle Trans-Urals (with particular reference to the materials of the Gorbunovski peat bog sites)Stratum plus 2017 (1)271–90. Google Scholar

Early art in the Urals: new research on the wooden sculpture from Shigir

 
Abstract

The carved wooden object uncovered from the Shigir peat bog in the Sverdlovsk region towards the end of the nineteenth century remains one of the oldest, known examples of monumental anthropomorphic sculpture from anywhere in the world. Recent application of new analytical techniques has led to the discovery of new imagery on its surface, and has pushed the date of the piece back to the earliest Holocene. The results of these recent analyses are placed here in the context of local and extra-local traditions of comparable prehistoric art. This discussion highlights the unique nature of the find and its significance for appreciating the complex symbolic world of Early Holocene hunter-gatherers.

 
 
Copyright
 
Corresponding author
*Author for correspondence (Email: thomas.terberger@nld.niedersachsen.de)
 
References
AbramovaZ.A. 1995L'art paléolithique d'Europe orientale et de SibérieGrenobleJérôme Millon.Google Scholar
BahnP. & PettittP.B. (ed.). 2009Britain's oldest art: the Ice Age cave art of Creswell CragsSwindonEnglish Heritage.Google Scholar
Bronk RamseyC. 2009Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon datesRadiocarbon 51337–60. https://doi.org/10.2458/azu_js_rc.51.3494CrossRef | Google Scholar
ChairkinaN.M. 2010Peat-bog sites in the Trans-UralsArchaeology, Ethnology and Anthropology of Eurasia 388592https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aeae.2011.02.007CrossRef | Google Scholar
ChairkinaN.M.KuzminY.V. & BurrG.S.2013Chronology of the perishables: first AMS 14C dates of wooden artefacts from Aeneolithic–Bronze Age waterlogged sites in the Trans-Urals, RussiaAntiquity 87418–29. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00049036CrossRef | Google Scholar
d'ErricoF. 1994L'art grave azilien de la technique à la signification (Gallia Préhistoire supplement 31). ParisCNRS.Google Scholar
DietrichO.HeunM.NotroffJ.SchmidtK. & ZarnkowM.2012The role of cult and feasting in the emergence of Neolithic communities: new evidence from Göbekli Tepe, south-eastern TurkeyAntiquity 86674–95. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00047840CrossRef | Google Scholar
GhemişC.ClottesJ.GélyB. & Prud'hommeF.2011An exceptional archaeological discovery: the ‘Art Gallery’ in Coliboaia Cave, Apuseni Mountains, RomaniaActa Archaeologica Carpathica 46518.Google Scholar
HansenS. 2007Bilder vom Menschen der Steinzeit (Archäologie in Eurasien 20). MainzPhilipp von Zabern.Google Scholar
HansenS. 2014Neolithic figurines in Anatolia, in ÖzdoğanM.BaşgelenN. & KuniholmP. (ed.) The Neolithic in Turkey 6265–92. IstanbulArkeoloji ve Sanat.Google Scholar
HartzS.TerbergerT. & ZhilinM.2010New AMS-dates for the Upper Volga Mesolithic and the origin of microblade technology in EuropeQuartär 57155–69.Google Scholar
HauptmannH. 2003Eine frühneolithische Kultfigur aus Urfa, in ÖzdoğanM.HauptmannH. & BaşgelenN. (ed.) From village to cities: early villages in the Near East623–36. IstanbulArkeoloji ve Sanat.Google Scholar
HauptmannH. & SchmidtK.2007Anatolien vor 12.000 Jahren. Die Skulpturen des Frühneolithikums, in KarlsruheBadisches Landesmuseum (ed.) Vor 12.000 Jahren in Anatolien. Die ältesten Monumente der Menschheit6773KarlsruheKonrad Theiss.Google Scholar
HeikelA. 1894Antiquites de la Siberie occidentale (Memoires de la Societe finno-ougrienne VI). HelsingforsSociété de littérature finnoise.Google Scholar
KabacinskiJ.HartzS. & TerbergerT.2011Elks in the Early Stone Age art of the northern lowlandsPrähistorische Zeitschrift 86151–64. https://doi.org/10.1515/pz.2011.010CrossRef | Google Scholar
KozłowskiJ.K. 1992L'art de la préhistoire en Europe orientaleParisCNRS.Google Scholar
LillieM.ZhilinM.SavchenkoS. & TaylorM.2005. Carpentry dates back to Mesolithic. Antiquity Project Gallery 79(305). Available at: http://www.antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/lillie/ (accessed 6 September 2017).Google Scholar
PetrinV.I. & ŠirokovV.N.1995Die Ignatievka-Höhle (Ural). Jungpaläolithische Höhlenbilder und einige Aspekte ihrer InterpretationJahrbuch des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums Mainz 38, 1991 (1995): 1731.Google Scholar
PłonkaT. 2003The portable art of Mesolithic EuropeWrocławUniversity of Wrocław Press.Google Scholar
ReimerP.J.BardE.BaylissA.BeckJ.W.BlackwellP.G.Bronk RamseyC.BuckC.E.ChengH.EdwardsR.L.FriedrichM.GrootesP.M.GuildersonT.P.HaflidasonH.HajdasI.HattéC.HeatonT.J.HoffmannD.L.HoggA.G.HughenK.A.KaiserK.F.KromerB.ManningS.W.NiuM.ReimerR.W.RichardsD.A.ScottE.M.SouthonJ.R.StaffR.A.TurneyC.S.M. & van der PlichtJ.2013IntCal13 and Marine13 radiocarbon age calibration curves 0–50,000 years cal BPRadiocarbon 551869–87. https://doi.org/10.2458/azu_js_rc.55.16947CrossRef | Google Scholar
SavchenkoS.N. 1999The history of formation of the collection of Shigir antiquities in Sverdlovsk regional museum, in 120 years of archaeology of the eastern slope of the Urals: from the history of the Urals archaeology. The spiritual culture of the Urals4653YekaterinburgUrals State University.Google Scholar
SavchenkoS.N. & ZhilinM.G.2004About new details of the big Shigir idol, in The fourth readings in the memory of Bers130–35. YekaterinburgAqua.Google Scholar
ŠčelinskijV.E. & ŠirokovV.N.1999Kapova und Ignatievka: die altsteinzeitlichen Bilderhöhlen im Ural (Thorbecke Speläo 5). SigmaringenThorbecke.Google Scholar
SchmidtK. 2007Die Steinkreise und die Reliefs des Göbekli Tepe, in KarlsruheBadisches Landesmuseum (ed.) Vor 12.000 Jahren in Anatolien. Die ältesten Monumente der Menschheit8396KarlsruheKonrad Theiss.Google Scholar
SerikovY.B. 2000The Paleolithic and Mesolithic of the Middle Eastern UralsNizhnii TagilNizhnii Tagil Social-Pedagogical Academy (in Russian).Google Scholar
TusaS.di MaidaG.PastoorsA.PiezonkaH.WenigerG.-Ch. & TerbergerT.2013The Grotta di Cala dei Genovesi—new studies on the Ice Age cave art on SicilyPrähistorische Zeitschrift 88122https://doi.org/10.1515/pz-2013-0001CrossRef | Google Scholar
ShiyatovS.G. n.d.. International tree ring database. Available at: www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo-search/study/4766 (accessed 12 March 2018).Google Scholar
VeilSt. & TerbergerT.2009Kunst und Umwelt im Wandel, in PlanckD.HeiligmannJ. & ConardN.J. (ed.) Eiszeit: Kunst und Kultur347–51. OstfildernThorbecke.Google Scholar
ZaretskayaN.E.PanovaN.K.ZhilinM.G.AntipinaT.G.UspenskayaO.N. & SavchenkoS.N.2014Geochronology, stratigraphy, and evolution of Middle Uralian peatlands during the Holocene (exemplified by the Shigir and Gorbunovo peat bogs)Stratigraphy and Geological Correlation 22632–54. https://doi.org/10.1134/S0869593814060082CrossRef | Google Scholar
ZhilinM.G. 2007The Early Mesolithic of the Upper Volga: selected problems, in MasojćM.PłonkaT.GinterB. & KozłowskiK. (ed.) Contributions to the Central European Stone Age89104WrocławInstitute of Archaeology, University of Wrocław.Google Scholar
ZhilinM.G. 2010Mesolithic zoomorphic perforated antler staff heads from central Russia and Eastern Urals: ceremonial weapons or shaman's staves?, in Legrand-PineauA. & SidéraI. (ed.) Ancient and modern bone artefacts from America to Russia: cultural, technological and functional signature (British Archaeological Reports International series 2136): 135–40. OxfordArchaeopress.Google Scholar
ZhilinM.G. & SavchenkoS.2010A ‘hoard’ of bone arrowheads from the site Beregovaya II in Eastern Urals area, in DavudovO.M. (ed.) Problems of archaeology of Eurasia302–15. MakhachkalaDagestan Branch of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (in Russian).Google Scholar
ZhilinM.G.SavchenkoS.N.NikulinaE.A.SchmölckeU.HartzS. & TerbergerT.2014Eleven bone arrowheads and a dog coprolite—the Mesolithic site of Beregovaya 2, Urals region (Russia)Quartär 61165–87.Google Scholar
ZhilinM.G.KosinskayaL.L. & SavchenkoS.N.2017Stone tools for chopping in the Mesolithic of the Middle Trans-Urals (with particular reference to the materials of the Gorbunovski peat bog sites)Stratum plus 2017 (1)271–90. Google Scholar