I Saw a Face': Fisherman Discovers Amazing Find in His Net

A fisherman recently found something completely unexpected when he lifted his net out of Siberian waters: A 4,000-year-old statuette that likely represents an ancient pagan god.

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Nikolay Tarasov, 53, told the Siberian Times that he discovered the historical gem, which reportedly dates back to the Bronze Age, while fishing in the village of Tisul.

Tarasov said he initially thought the object was a stone and almost threw it back into the water, but noticed something that changed his mind -- the statuette had eyes and a face, according to the Christian Post.

"I found the object, freed the net and was about to throw it back in the water – but at the last second I looked at it more closely," he told the Siberian Times. "And I saw a face. I stopped and washed the thing in the river -- and realized it wasn't a stone of an unusual shape, as I thought earlier -- but a statuette."

After taking the object to the Tisul History Museum, he said he was informed that it might have been created 4,000 years ago.

"Quite likely, it shows a pagan god," Tisul History Museum director Marina Banschikova told the Times. "The only things we have dated approximately to the same age are a stone necklace and two charms in the shapes of a bear and a bird."

According to the report, Tarasov donated the object to the museum free of cost.