SOFIA, Bulgaria — A team of Bulgarian researchers has returned from a two-week archaeological journey through Mongolia, uncovering new insights into shamanic traditions that may have influenced the spiritual and cultural development of early pagan Bulgaria.
Led by archaeologist Prof. Nikolay Ovcharov and Mladen Stanev, Chair of the Association of Bulgarians Around the World, the expedition explored sacred sites across Mongolia’s Sayano-Altai mountain region, home to millennia-old steppe cultures and enduring shamanic practices.
“Our goal was to study direct traces of shamanic and Turkic spiritual influence on the early Bulgars, especially between the 7th and 9th centuries,” said Ovcharov during a press briefing in Sofia.
(Source: Bulgarian Telegraph Agency – BTA)
Cultural Crossroads: From the Steppes to the Balkans
The researchers are working within an evolving scholarly consensus that ancient Bulgaria’s ethnogenesis was not linear, but a fusion of multiple ethnic and cultural strands. Historically, two dominant theories have vied to explain the origins of the Bulgars:
- Turkic-Altaic Theory, linking Bulgars to Central Asian steppe peoples;
- Iranian (Sarmatian/Alanic) Theory, pointing to Indo-European roots.
Recent research, including that of Ovcharov, leans toward a hybrid understanding where Turkic religious and linguistic elements (like Tangra worship and Orkhon runes) were interwoven with Iranic customs and local Slavic traditions.
Source: Rasho Rashev, “The Ethnogenesis of the Bulgars,” Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (2001); Andrey Zheliazkov, Institute of Balkan Studies.
Into Mongolia’s Spiritual Heartland
During the expedition, the team covered more than 5,000 km of rugged terrain, visiting:
- Ulan Bator, the modern capital;
- Karakorum, the ancient Mongol capital established by Genghis Khan;
- The Uyghur Khaganate’s former capital (8th–9th centuries);
- The Orkhon Valley, home to the Bilge Khan and Kul Tigin monuments—inscribed with early Turkic script dating to 732–735 CE
(UNESCO World Heritage Centre: “Orkhon Valley Cultural Landscape”)
One of the most spiritually charged moments occurred in Tsagaan Nuur, near Mongolia’s border with Russia. There, the group encountered 85-year-old Baldorj, one of the last practicing shamans in the region.
Baldorj performed a traditional kamlayane ceremony, invoking 13 ongons (ancestral spirits), a ritual thought to date back thousands of years and still practiced among remote shamanic clans.
(Source: Field notes by Prof. Ovcharov; paraphrased for public release via BTA)
Echoes in Stone: Deer Stelae and Bulgarian Graffiti
The team visited Mongolia’s iconic “deer stones”—upright megaliths from the Bronze Age (c. 1200–700 BCE) engraved with stylized stags, weapons, and solar symbols.
Source: Jacobson-Tepfer, Esther. “Early Nomads of Mongolia.” National Geographic, 2009.
In Khovd province, they explored three major petroglyph sites:
- Khoid Tsenkher Cave
- Chandman Khar
- Ishgen Tolgoi
These rock carvings depict hunting, warfare, and shamanic iconography, bearing striking visual similarities to 8th–9th century graffiti found in Bulgaria’s Pliska and Preslav.
Source: Ovcharov’s comparative analysis presented at the National Archaeological Museum (to be published Q4 2025).
Scholarly Exchange and Upcoming Publications
In addition to fieldwork, the Bulgarian delegation engaged in academic discussions with Mongolian historians and anthropologists, including representatives from the Mongolian Academy of Sciences and the National University of Mongolia.
“We are preparing a joint series of academic papers and will present our findings at the upcoming World Congress on Steppe Civilizations in 2026,” said Ovcharov.
(Source: BTA interview, July 2025)
