Head of a Female Elk 3rd millenium BC Shigir peat bog, Sverdlovsk Region, the Urals Elk horn L 19.5 cm This head of a female elk may have decorated the handle of a ritual vessel, although some scholars maintain that it served as the terminal of a ritual staff. The surface is carefully polished, perhaps through long use. The elk is depicted in a realistic manner, the eyes, ears, quivering nostrils and typical prominent top lip all clearly delineated.