October
27
/ 2018
By The Siberian Times reporter For hundreds of years, visitors to this Arctic outpost have been frightened by terrifying totems and human sacrifices. With seven faces, this ancient wooden effigy stands 1.28 meters (4.4 ft) in height - and women are forbidden to approach it. Bolshoi Tsinkovy is the largest of 111 small islands surrounding Vaygach, which is located between Barents and Kara seas. Here, still standing today, is the oldest idol of the native Nenets people, perhaps dating to the 18th century. It is the successor of many earlier eerie effigies, mostly on Vaygach Island of which Bolshoi Tsinkovy is a satellite. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"53876","attributes":{"alt":"Local history records that this idol originally stood on Vaygach island. Image: Artem Kazakov, The Siberian Times","class":"media-image","height":"407","style":"width
