The whale alley is perhaps the most mysterious landmark of the entire Chukotka Territory, a gigantic monument of ancient Eskimo culture, a sanctuary and a fantastically beautiful place, mesmerizing at first sight and forever . Located on the edge of the "Russian" world , where our country ends and sometimes it seems that everything ends at all - life, warmth, civilization, scientific achievements and modern technologies, the alley of huge mammals, underwater leviathans and the most intelligent on the planet. It is not accessible to homeless people, it is almost inaccessible, but incredibly attractive . And it's not at all about the high cost of tours to Chukotka or cruises on the "northern seas", and at its location - on an uninhabited island, 30 km from the nearest village, where the path depending on the season lies through helicopters, skis, whalboats or cross-country vehicles . Inviting, inaccessible, ancient and in some way sacred The whale alley is a challenge for every traveler, and its visit is akin to the feeling of the battle won: intoxicating, sweet, long .
@ Before talking about her neo In the opening, it is worth to say a few words about the appearance of the alley . It is a construction of two rows of bowhead whales dug into the ground . Dimensions - striking: The whale alley stretches for about 500 m along the coast of the island Yttygran . Near to water row - skulls of whales 2 m wide and reaching a height of 1, 5 m (and this is only part, the rest - underground) . In parallel they go the second row of massive pillars of jaw bones up to 5 m high . Scientists believe that to create such a large ancient Eskimo had to oblog give no less than 50-60 animals . But that's not all: between the rows - almost 150 meat storage pits, some of which store provisions to this day . From the pits along the hillside you can walk along the man-made stone path length of almost 50 m to an even, round platform .Surrounded by a ring of boulders, in the center it keeps a large flat boulder, and next to it is a hearth with traces of ash . This is, according to the researchers, the central sanctuary of a large community or intercommunity association that lived on the banks of the Senyavin strait many years ago .
Fortunately, the archaeological expedition , nabredshaya on the alley of gigantic bones, immediately appreciated the scope and historicity of the monument . The scientists attributed it to the late period of the culture of Poonuk and dated the 14th century: the period of the heyday of the ancient culture of whalers of the Bering Strait .If you believe their research, the Whale Alley could be used for two occasions - in rituals, competitions and feasts, and in sacred rituals at the stone sanctuary on the roundabout . It is believed that the island of Yttygran was a place of ritual meetings of hunters for almost two centuries , until the 16th century, when it became sharply colder, whales ceased to appear in local latitudes and whaling began to decline, it was not neglected and was not forgotten . Neither in the folklore of local tribes nor in the memory of local residents mention and information about the Whale Alley .
Investigations of this mysterious place and continues to this day, as the unabated thin stream of tourists, hurrying to witness the miracle of ancient Eskimo.
Coordinates
The whale alley is located on the island of Yttygran (Itygran), which is located on the territory of the recently formed national natural-ethnic park "Beringia". The head office of the national park is located at: Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, pos. Providence, st. Naberezhnaya Dezhneva, 35, apt. 2. Telephone / Fax: (42735) 2-25-59. Airplanes fly to the village from Anadyr. Further - more difficult.
Since the sanctuary is on the island, the easiest way is to reach it on the whaleboat from the village of Yanrakynnot (85 km from Providence on the terrain vehicle on a primer, helicopter or in summer on a whaleboat), on the banks of the Senyavin Channel. In winter, before Yttygran and the Whale Alley, you can walk straight on the ice, which is what the local Chukchi do, sending their deer herds there (the way is, albeit not long, 30-40 kilometers around the uninhabited island of Arakamchechen).