It is suggested that the sculpture was disposed of or was buried in a pit some time after the baptism of Kievan Rus, and acceptance of Christianity in Poland in 966, like various buried idols in Kiev and Novgorod. In the 19th century, when the Zbruch River (a left tributary of the Dniester) changed its bed, the area where the pillar was buried became submerged. It was discovered during a drought near the village of Lychkivtsi, just north of Husiatyn, in 1848. The statue is now on display in the Archaeological Museum of Kraków in Poland, with exact copies located in a number of museums, including the State Historical Museum in Moscow.