Ancient amulets with mythical creatures differ from Chinese amulets of that time
China is called the homeland of dragons, but the staff of the SB RAS are ready to challenge this. Excavations in the north of Khakassia have shown that the population of southern Siberia also worshiped dragons. Archaeologists saw images of these mythical creatures on metal belt buckles in the Iyussky treasure, found in the 1970s. Scientists are sure that this is not an imitation of the Chinese culture, but a distinctive symbolism used by the inhabitants of Southern Siberia 3 thousand years ago.
- The buckles are different in size, in some details, but still created according to the same canon. Most likely, they played the role of a talisman and had to protect the owner from danger. But it is wrong to say that someone borrowed the image of this creature from someone, - explains Andrey Borodovsky, an employee of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of the SB RAS. - The dragon depicted on the objects of the South Siberian treasures is shown in motion, as if it is twisting in a spiral. The Chinese dragon moves in a zigzag manner, it has a fundamentally different posture. Secondly, historically, the Chinese dragon was formed from an insect larva, while the Siberian dragon is close to a snake or lizard.
Although the territory of Southern Siberia at the end of the 1st millennium BC. e. has undergone a very strong Chinese influence, the plaques with the image of the Ius dragon are likely to have a local original design, that is, it is not some kind of copy. Photo: SB RAS
It is interesting that the images found in Siberia have something in common with modern drawings of dragons. This is exactly how - snakelike, with ears, horns, mustaches - they are represented by Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki in the cult anime "Spirited Away".
- I watched this cartoon. Yes, they are really similar, I will not deny it, - the scientist admits.
Archaeologists say that the image of a dragon in Siberia quickly disappeared (it existed from the end of the 1st millennium BC to the 2nd century AD). But in China, on the contrary, it took root and became almost a symbol of the nation.
“Obviously, these images influenced each other, and then China kind of monopolized it,” says Borodovsky.
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By the way, scientists do not exclude that dragons appeared in Siberia and China for a reason. Perhaps, in this territory, ancient people saw either living dinosaurs, or their remains.
- There are such extravagant versions that the eastern dragon is almost a ready-made dinosaur. Indeed, their skeletons were found in both North China and South Siberia. So such an option cannot be ruled out either, - the scientist argues.
The Chinese dragon (on the right) moves in a zigzag manner, while the Siberian dragon twists in a spiral. Photo: SB RAS
REFERENCE
The Iyussky treasure was discovered in the 1970s by Semyon Fefelov, a Khakass worker of the Iyussky state farm. While cultivating a field near a small lake Sarat, a worker came across a bronze cauldron containing various items: leather straps, buckles, and a dagger. There is a version that these are things of a deceased priest.
Victoria MINAEVA
