Kyun-Tas (Russian: Кюн-Тас ; Yakut : Күн Таас ) is a mountain range in the Sakha Republic , Far Eastern Federal District , Russia.
6-717: The Kyun-Tas is one of the mountain areas of Yakutia where there are kigilyakh rock formations . The Kyun-Tas is located 55 kilometres (34 mi) northeast of Deputatsky , between the Selennyakh Range and the western end of the Polousny Range . It rises at the southern limit of the Yana-Indigirka Lowland , northwest of the Aby Lowland . It is a broad massif with mountains of middle height and smooth slopes. The main ridge stretches in
12-654: A man" or "mountain married". The term "kigilyakh" is a distorted form of the original Yakut "kisilyakh" . Such stones are found in different places of Sakha (Yakutia), Russia , mainly in the East Siberian Lowland : Outside of Yakutia, similar formations are found in the island of Popova-Chukchina and the Putorana Plateau , in Krasnoyarsk Krai . Ferdinand Wrangel reported on the kigilyakhs on Chetyryokhstolbovoy, an island of
18-645: A result of cryogenic weathering . Most kigilyakhs formed during the Cretaceous period and are about 120 million years old. These anthropomorphic rock pillars are an important feature in Yakut culture . Often they are slightly scattered, protruding from the surface of smooth mountains and giving the impression of a standing crowd of people. According to Yakut legends kigilyakhs originated in very ancient people. The Yakut word "kisiliy" means "a place where there are people". Kisilyakh means "mountain having
24-535: A roughly southeast/northwest direction west of the eastern slopes of the Selennyakh Range for about 100 km (62 mi). Although the range is smaller, the highest summits of the Kyun-Tas are higher than those of the neighboring Polousny Range. The highest peak, located in the northern part, is 1,083 metres (3,553 ft) high; there is another high peak at the southeastern end that is 1,031 metres (3,383 ft). The 243 kilometres (151 mi) long Nuchcha ,
30-866: A tributary of the Chondon , originates in the range. Also the 170 kilometres (110 mi) long Baky , one of the rivers that forms the Uyandina tributary of the Indigirka , has its source in Lake Baky, located at the junction of the Kyun-Tas and the western end of the Polousny Range. Kigilyakh Kigilyakh or kisiliyakh (Russian: кигиляхи ; Yakut : киһилээх , meaning "stone person") are pillar-like natural rock formations looking like tall monoliths standing more or less isolated. Usually they are composed of granite or sandstone shaped as
36-709: The Medvezhyi Islands in the East Siberian Sea . He visited the island during his 1821-1823 expedition and named it after them ( Chetyryokhstolbovoy meaning "four pillars"). The kigilyakhs on Chetyryokhstolbovoy Island are about 15 m (49 ft) high. In Soviet times on the Kigilyakh Peninsula at the western end of Bolshoy Lyakhovsky Island , one of the New Siberian Islands, Vladimir Voronin , then in charge of
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