BICEPHALIC DRAGONS/SISIUTLS REVISITED, THIS TIME IN BULGARIA:

Reconstructed Thracian shrine, Razlog, Bulgaria. Internet illustration, public domain.

On 28 January 2023 I published a column titled ‘SISIUTL AND CHINESE DRAGONS - A CONNECTION?’ in which I addressed a comment I received from Jay (last name unknown) concerning a 4,000 year old carving found in China’s Shimao, in Shaanxi province, of a two-headed dragon that closely resembles the Sisiutl of North America’s northwest coast first peoples. I my response I postulated some degree of two-way cultural exchange that may have planted the idea at both ends of the route.

Stele from the Thracian shrine and a rubbing of the petroglyph, Razlog, Bulgaria. Internet illustration, public domain.

This possibility gets a whole lot more complicated, however, because I recently ran across an article from 2015 about an ancient Thracian Sun Shrine in Razlog, Bulgaria, dating from the 2^nd century BC, with an image of a bicephalic (two-headed) dragon carved on a rock. The hypothesis of cultural exchange still can be applied because the ancient Chinese Silk Road runs through Turkey. and Bulgaria is next to Turkey on the southwestern side of the Black Sea. This suggests that the idea of the two-headed dragon/sisiutl could have traveled from Shaanxi China to Razlog along the Silk Road.

Closeup of the petroglyph panel. Two-headed dragon at center with warrior at lower right. Internet illustration, public domain.

The Razlog dragon lacks the central face of the North American Sisiutl and the Shimao, China, two-headed dragon, but all three share the layout of the two heads at both ends of a snake-like body. The Razlog dragon is incorporated as the bottom element of a large, complicated petroglyph of interlocking swirls, and he is confronted on the right side of the design by an anthropomorphic figure which appears to be holding a weapon (sword?) and interacting with that head, perhaps fighting.

Closeup of the same portion of the tracing. Two-headed dragon at center with warrior at lower right. Internet illustration, public domain.

So, where did Sisiutl/2-Headed dragons really come from; Bulgaria, China, the Northwest Coast of North America? On the basis of very little information I would have to guess China based upon its central position in the map of occurrences of this image, as well as its known time depth in China. But, this is only a guess, and probably a shaky one at best. We have to be on the lookout for more examples of the image.

NOTE: Some images in this posting were retrieved from the internet with a search for public domain photographs. If any of these images are not intended to be public domain, I apologize, and will happily provide the picture credits if the owner will contact me with them. For further information on these reports you should read the original reports at the sites listed below.

REFERENCES:

Dikov, Ivan, 2015, Bulgaria’s Razlog Unveils Restoration of 2^nd Century BC Reliefs From Ancient Thracian Sun Shrine, 18 September 2015, http://archaeologyinbulgaria.com. Accessed online 15 March 2023.

Faris, Peter, 2023, Sisiutl and Chinese Dragons – A Connection?, 28 January 2023, https://rockartblog.blogspot.com.