The Siberian Times has reported the discovery of two prehistoric megaliths believed to depict a dragon and a griffin and which may be up to 12,000 years old. Each of the megaliths faces east, is composed of separate granite boulders, and weighs over 120 tons. The stones were found at the base of Mokhnataya, a mountain in Siberia’s southern Altai region near Kazakhstan and Mongolia. Archaeologists are still unsure who carved the megaliths and what their significance might have been.

I guess I can buy the griffin rock, but that photo isn’t selling me on that dragon stone.

Despite being commonly found in Asian mythology, particularly Chinese, the dragon stone has been described as uniquely Siberian. Other ancient Siberian depictions of dragons have been unearthed in Siberia recently, showing the cross-cultural influence that early Asian and Eurasian civilizations had on one another.

Depictions of dragons are not uncommon in ancient Siberian cultures.

While griffins are common in the art of the ancient Eurasian Scythian culture, archaeologist Ruslan Peresyolkov told The Siberian Times he believes these megaliths predate that culture by several millennia and are characteristically distinct from Scythian art:

The dragon and griffin are unique in terms of their sizes; the griffin is also unique in terms of its preservation. No other dragon megalith has been found in Siberia, although we believe such discoveries are possible in future. The megalith complex in Mokhnataya mountain may date back as far as the end of the last Ice age – or earlier. It is also not clear who created them. In my opinion, this is a unique discovery.

There still remains the possibility that the creatures which inspired these megaliths are evidence of a pre-Scythian belief system which was adopted by Scythian culture as prehistoric Siberian peoples migrated in response to the thawing Ice Age.

The “griffin” stands over 2.5 meters (8 feet) tall.

The stones were reportedly found some years ago but are just now being disclosed to the press, and the images aren’t exactly crystal clear evidence that these stones couldn’t simply be natural formations. Could this be simply a case of pareidolia? Until more research is conducted, we’ll have to take The Siberian Times’ word for it.

Dragon, or amorphous blob rock? You decide.