A figure of the “Solar Divine” (a stele)

The stele was found in the stone fencing of the burial ground of the tagar culture of the first millennium BC. However it was crafted by people that belonged to the Okunev culture and lived in Khakassia in the first part of the II millennium BC. It depicts a solar divine associated with the fertility cult that was the object of worship for the ancient population of Southern Siberia. On the forehead of the statue a so-called "third eye" is marked. According to the Ethnographic Research of the People of Siberia the sun was presented as a spirit – an assistant to shamans, it was also addressed with pleas for fertility. Even in the middle of the twentieth century, such steles caused fear and awe among local residents. In front of them sacrifices were made, food was put near their foot, smeared their mouths with sour cream, tar, animal blood or fat. However, if a “stone image” did not help in hunting, curing illnesses or did not satisfy expectations, it was glanced reprovingly, spited over and laced by lash.
A monumental sculpture, an object of worship.
Unique item, there are very few of such statues remained.