Kigilyakh or kisiliyakh ( rus, кигиляхи; sah, киһилээх, meaning "stone person") are tall, pillar-like natural

rock formation A rock formation is an isolated, scenic, or spectacular surface rock outcrop. Rock formations are usually the result of weathering and erosion sculpting the existing rock. The term ''rock formation'' can also refer to specific sediment ...

s looking like tall monoliths standing more or less isolated. Usually they are composed of

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

shaped as a result of

cryogenic In physics, cryogenics is the production and behaviour of materials at very low temperatures. The 13th IIR International Congress of Refrigeration (held in Washington DC in 1971) endorsed a universal definition of “cryogenics” and “cr ...

weathering Weathering is the deterioration of rocks, soils and minerals as well as wood and artificial materials through contact with water, atmospheric gases, and biological organisms. Weathering occurs ''in situ'' (on site, with little or no movement), ...

. Most kigilyakhs formed during the

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...

period and are about 120 million years old.Types of weathering
/ref>

Cultural significance and etymology

These

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...

rock pillars are an important feature in

Yakut culture The Yakuts, or the Sakha ( sah, саха, ; , ), are a Turkic ethnic group who mainly live in the Republic of Sakha in the Russian Federation, with some extending to the Amur, Magadan, Sakhalin regions, and the Taymyr and Evenk Distric ...

.Kigilyakhi of Yakutia
/ref> 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 a man" or "mountain married".''Ландшафты как отражение топонимов Якутии'' (Landscapes as a Reflection of the Toponyms of Yakutia)
/ref> The term "kigilyakh" is a distorted form of the original Yakut ''"kisilyakh"''.

Locations

Such stones are found in different places of

Sakha Sakha, officially the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia),, is the largest republic of Russia, located in the Russian Far East, along the Arctic Ocean, with a population of roughly 1 million. Sakha comprises half of the area of its governing Far Eas ...

(Yakutia),

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, mainly in the

East Siberian Lowland The East Siberian Lowland ( rus, Восточно-Сибирская низменность), also known as Yana-Kolyma Lowland,Oleg Leonidovič Kryžanovskij, ''A Checklist of the Ground-beetles of Russia and Adjacent Lands.'' p. 16 is a vast plai ...

: * Alazeya Plateau * Anabar Plateau *

Kigilyakh Peninsula Kigilyakh Peninsula (russian: Полуостров Кигилях) is a peninsula in the New Siberian Islands, Sakha Republic, Russia. History This geographic feature was named after the Kigilyakh stone pillars. In Soviet times on the Kigilyakh P ...

, with Mount Kigilyakh and Cape Kigilyakh,

Bolshoy Lyakhovsky Island Bolshoy Lyakhovsky Island (russian: Большой Ляховский остров), or Great Lyakhovsky, is the largest of the Lyakhovsky Islands belonging to the New Siberian Islands archipelago between the Laptev Sea and the East Siberian Sea ...

, New Siberian Islands *

Kisilyakh Range The Kisilyakh Range ( rus, Кисиляхский хребет; sah, Киһилээх) is a mountain range in the Sakha Republic, Far Eastern Federal District, Russia. The nearest city is Batagay, and the nearest airport Batagay Airport. The mo ...

, part of the

Chersky Range The Chersky Range (, ) is a chain of mountains in northeastern Siberia between the Yana River and the Indigirka River. Administratively the area of the range belongs to the Sakha Republic, although a small section in the east is within Magadan O ...

* Kisilyakh-Tas, an isolated mountain located in the Kolyma Lowland, roughly from the coast of the

East Siberian Sea The East Siberian Sea ( rus, Восто́чно-Сиби́рское мо́ре, r=Vostochno-Sibirskoye more) is a marginal sea in the Arctic Ocean. It is located between the Arctic Cape to the north, the coast of Siberia to the south, the New Si ...

, on the right bank of the

Alazeya River The Alazeya ( rus, Алазея, r=; sah, Алаһыай, translit=Alahıay) is a river in the northeastern part of Yakutia, Russia which flows into the Arctic between the basins of the larger Indigirka to the west and the Kolyma to the east. Mou ...

at . *

Kyun-Tas Kyun-Tas ( rus, Кюн-Тас; sah, Күн Таас) is a mountain range in the Sakha Republic, Far Eastern Federal District, Russia. The Kyun-Tas is one of the mountain areas of Yakutia where there are kigilyakh rock formations. Geography The ...

* Chetiryokhstolbovoy Island,

Medvezhyi Islands The Medvezhyi Islands, or Bear Islands (russian: Медве́жьи острова́; sah, Эhэлээх арыылар, ''Eheleex Arıılar'') is an uninhabited group of islands at the western end of the Kolyma Gulf of the East Siberian Sea. Hi ...

New Siberian Islands The New Siberian Islands ( rus, Новосиби́рские Oстрова, r=Novosibirskiye Ostrova; sah, Саҥа Сибиир Aрыылара, translit=Saña Sibiir Arıılara) are an archipelago in the Extreme North of Russia, to the north o ...

Oymyakon Highlands The Yana-Oymyakon Highlands ( rus, Яно-Оймяконское нагорье; sah, Дьааҥы хаптал хайалара), also known as Oymyakon Highlands ( rus, Оймяконское нагорье),Soviet General Topographic Maps P-5 ...

Polousny Range The Polousny Range ( rus, Полоусный кряж; sah, Полоуснай томтороот) is a mountain range in the Sakha Republic, Far Eastern Federal District, Russia.Полоусный кряж (Polousny Range) / Great Soviet Encyc ...

* Stolbovoy Island,

Laptev Sea The Laptev Sea ( rus, мо́ре Ла́птевых, r=more Laptevykh; sah, Лаптевтар байҕаллара, translit=Laptevtar baỹğallara) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is located between the northern coast of Siberia, th ...

Suor Uyata The Suor Uyata ( rus, Суор-Уята; sah, Суор Уйата) is a mountain range in the Sakha Republic, Far Eastern Federal District, Russia. The village of Andryushkino, a small inhabited locality of the Lower Kolyma District, is located ...

range *

Ulakhan Sis The Ulakhan-Sis Range ( rus, Улахан-Сис; sah, Улахан Сис) is a mountain range in the Sakha Republic, Far Eastern Federal District, Russia.

Ykt - Вернулись из Гранитных Городов Улахан Сис
/ref> Outside of Yakutia, similar formations are found in the island of Popova-Chukchina and the

Putorana Plateau The Putorana Plateau () or the Putorana Mountains is a mountainous area in the Russian Federation. It is a large massif or plateau crossed by mountain ranges. The nearest large settlement is Norilsk, where foreign travel is restricted. The cit ...

, in

Krasnoyarsk Krai Krasnoyarsk Krai ( rus, Красноя́рский край, r=Krasnoyarskiy kray, p=krəsnɐˈjarskʲɪj ˈkraj) is a federal subject of Russia (a krai), with its administrative center in the city of Krasnoyarsk, the third-largest city in Siber ...

History

Ferdinand Wrangel Baron Ferdinand Friedrich Georg Ludwig von Wrangel (russian: Барон Фердина́нд Петро́вич Вра́нгель, tr. ; – ) was a Baltic German explorer and seaman in the Imperial Russian Navy, Honorable Member of the Saint ...

reported on the kigilyakhs on Chetyryokhstolbovoy, an island of the

in the

. 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 high. In

Soviet times The history of Soviet Russia and the Soviet Union (USSR) reflects a period of change for both Russia and the world. Though the terms "Soviet Russia" and "Soviet Union" often are synonymous in everyday speech (either acknowledging the dominance ...

on the

at the western end of

, one of the New Siberian Islands,

Vladimir Voronin Vladimir Voronin (; born 25 May 1941) is a Soviet and Moldovan politician. He was the third president of Moldova from 2001 until 2009 and has been the First Secretary of the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova (PCRM) since 1994. H ...

, then in charge of the

Polar station A number of governments maintain permanent research stations in the Arctic. Also known as Arctic bases, polar stations or ice stations, these bases are widely distributed across the northern polar region of Earth. Historically few research sta ...

on the island, was shown a large standing rock which had been heavily eroded and which gave its name to the peninsula.Soviets gather geographic data in Arctic - CIA
/ref>

References

External links

*{{commonscat inline
Russian propaganda: Sacred anthropomorphic kigilyakh megaliths in northern Yakutia

Yakutia – Russian Easter IslandProtected Areas in the Russian Arctic
*[http://yakutiaphoto.com/?p=156 Якутия.Фото - Священные Киhиляхи в Верхоянском районе. Зимой / Ancient Siberian stones in Verkhoyansk Mountains. Winter (27 фотографий / 27 photos)] Natural monoliths Rock formations of Russia Yakut culture

Cultural significance and etymology

Locations

History

See also

References

Further reading

External links