Wolin Svetovit is either a 9th- or a 10th-century

figurine A figurine (a diminutive form of the word ''figure'') or statuette is a small, three-dimensional sculpture that represents a human, deity or animal, or, in practice, a pair or small group of them. Figurines have been made in many media, with cl ...

made from the wood of

European yew ''Taxus baccata'' is a species of evergreen tree in the family Taxaceae, native to western, central and southern Europe (including Britain and Ireland), northwest Africa, northern Iran, and southwest Asia.Rushforth, K. (1999). ''Trees of Britain ...

tree, discovered in 1974, in the island of

Wolin Wolin (; formerly german: Wollin ) is the name both of a Polish island in the Baltic Sea, just off the Polish coast, and a town on that island. Administratively, the island belongs to the West Pomeranian Voivodeship. Wolin is separated from the ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

.Aleksander Gieysztor: ''Mitologia Słowian''. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, 2006, p. 236. ISBN 83-235-0234-X. The figurine depicts a four-sided character with four faces, that had been identified as depicting

Svetovit Svetovit, Sventovit, Svantovit is the god of abundance and war, and the chief god of the Slavic tribe of the Rani, and later of all the Polabian Slavs. His organized cult was located on the island of Rügen, at Cape Arkona, where his main templ ...

, a god of abundance and war in the

Slavic paganism Slavic mythology or Slavic religion is the Religion, religious beliefs, myths, and ritual practices of the Slavs before Christianisation of the Slavs, Christianisation, which occurred at various stages between the 8th and the 13th century. The So ...

.Jerzy Strzelczyk: ''Mity, podania i wierzenia dawnych Słowian''. Poznań: Rebis, 2007. ISBN 978-83-7301-973-7.

Characteristics

There had been four figurines had been discovered in the island of

. They had been dated to come either from 9th or a 10th-century. Each figurine has the height of approximately 6 cm. The figurine depicts a character with four faces, that had been identified as depicting

, a god of abundance and war in the

. It is made out of the wood of

tree. The figurines are unique, as, they were small objects used in the household and private religious practices in

, as opposed, to previous founding of sculptures of Slavic deities, that were bigger, and used in public religious practices. Currently, the figurine is placed on a display in the

Regional Museum In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

Notes

References

{{reflist Archaeological sites in Poland 1974 archaeological discoveries 9th-century sculptures 9th-century artifacts 9th century in religion 10th-century sculptures 10th-century artifacts 10th century in religion Sculptures of gods Figurines History of Pomerania Slavic paganism

Characteristics

See also

Notes

References