Taimyr (peninsula): wiki: Facts about Russia. Traveling through Taimyr What are the names of the mountains located on the Taimyr Peninsula?

Over the past few decades, all over the world, a variety of hard-to-reach places have attracted a large number of tourists. It won’t surprise anyone that a large number of curious people gather on tours to Oymyakon or Greenland, and in order to go to Antarctica you have to wait in line for several years. As befits a northern country, there are a lot of such places in Russia, and a special place among them is occupied by the Taimyr Peninsula, a mysterious and amazing region, which has few analogues.

Taimyr is a unique place on the planet. If it were in the southern latitudes, thanks to its amazing topography, it would be possible to harvest crops here 3-4 times a year, because this is the land of thousands of lakes and rivers that literally lower the peninsula length and breadth and in some way very much resembles Karelia, only it is located it is entirely beyond the Arctic Circle. The calendar year in Taimyr can be divided into two parts, polar day and polar night. Of course, they do not last for six months, much less, but even four months a year without night or day is enough to surprise any Southerner.

And with all this, people, inquisitive tourists, are still drawn to this region and this is a completely different feeling than a trip to the sunny beaches of some Mediterranean resort. Coming here, especially in winter, feels like arriving on another planet. There is no major cities, and there are no cities here at all (Norilsk, Dudinka and Khatanga don’t count, they are still located on the southern border of the peninsula), there are only tundra steppes, covered with snow for 9 months of the year, illuminated by sunlight. Small settlements of people who have long chosen this region because of its natural resources, they simply get lost in such a huge area. The presence of man here is almost unnoticeable and nature has been preserved here as it was a thousand years ago, as if you were in glacial period, where there is an eternal struggle with cold and harsh living conditions.

Climate

Being completely beyond the Arctic Circle, the peninsula is not favored by the sun, and even though there are white nights here for 4-5 months, the sun only slightly warms the surface, but this is quite enough for the steppes and mountains of Taimyr in the summer, albeit a very short one. filled with green colors. A positive reading on the thermometer lasts only about four months. But after a short and bright summer, winter inevitably comes, long and harsh, which lasts for a long 8 months, during which the values ​​​​on the thermometer take negative values. Average annual temperature in Taimyr it stays around minus 15-20 degrees, and the maximum minimum value is recorded at -62 degrees. As befits any peninsula, strong winds blow here, which in winter turn into snowstorms that often last for several weeks.

Population

Due to its location and difficult accessibility, people came to these regions very late, and only at the turn of the 6th century BC the first settlements of people who came here from Yakutia arose on the banks of local large rivers. Over time, many peoples came to these places and settled in this region, and thanks to the vast areas there was enough space for everyone and several ethnic groups formed in Taimyr.

The Taimyr Peninsula is part of the Taimyr Dolgano-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. The largest city is the city of Dudinka, the second largest city is Khatanga, in which approximately 80% of the region's population is concentrated. However, these cities are located on the southernmost border of the peninsula, and the population of the Peninsula itself is just over 5 thousand people. The largest local peoples are the Nenets and Dolgans. The largest local people are the Dolgans, but most of them live in the city of Khatanga and other large villages in the region. There are also other small ethnic groups here, the number of which is less than one thousand: Nganasans, Enets and Evenks. These small peoples adhere to a more traditional way of life of northern people.

Animals and plants

The real owner of Taimyr can be called the Polar Bear, but he does not live throughout its entire territory, choosing mostly the coastal zone, where he can find food in abundance. However, most representatives of the local fauna are birds that fly here in the summer, and in the fall they rush to the coasts of the North and Baltic seas, and some fly to North America. But there are also unique animals here, such as the musk ox, which at one time was exterminated by humans and disappeared. In the 70s of the 20th century, 50 animals of this species were brought to Taimyr. The experiment was extremely successful and now the population of these animals is more than 8 thousand individuals. The rarest species include polar owls and falcons, amazing beautiful birds, which are listed in the Red Book.

The flora here is also unique. In view of permafrost and constant winds, the plants here have one distinctive feature, they are all dwarf, and even the trees rarely exceed a height of 10 meters, forming a unique type of forest, called crooked forest. However, in the southern part of Taimyr, for example, in the valley of the Khatanga River, large trees also grow: larches, spruces, cedars, forming real forests. In the northern part, tundra-steppes predominate, characterized by small shrubs, various grasses and a large number of different mosses and lichens.

Mangazeya

One of the most interesting pages in the development of the North belongs to the city of Mangozeya, which at one time was largest city Arctic. The city was founded in 1601 and had an extremely convenient location, because it was accessible by sea. The ships of that time, adapted for the north, had a small carrying capacity, but at the same time a small landing, which made it possible to move along the very coast, which did not freeze very much. for a long time. Also, precisely because of its location, this city was fabulously rich, because it was the only one on a very large area and all the riches of the region were available to the hunters of Mangozei. Like the gold rush in the USA, people came here in search of untold riches and found them; merchants were especially successful, bringing various household goods to the city, and in return received furs, which they then sold to mainland 30 times more expensive. For example, when selling a clay pot, it was necessary to fill it to the top with fur. The city grew quickly, and its population exceeded 2 thousand permanent residents, not counting visitors. It even had its own wooden Kremlin, the length of the walls of which was 280 meters, and the garrison was one hundred archers, which only emphasized its status as the most important city in the region and an important trading center, because furs worth an amount equal to the total income of the royal court were mined here annually.

However, the glory of Mangazeya did not last long, only 70 years and in 1672 the last streltsy garrison left it. After this, the city did not exist for very long and was abandoned by people. There are many reasons for this ending, but the most important of them is the wild fishing that was carried out by local governors in the territory adjacent to the city. Sable was destroyed with such great speed and great greed that soon it practically disappeared in this region and people simply had nothing to trade with. Local governors also contributed to the collapse, who were also very greedy, imposing an unaffordable tribute on the indigenous population, and they simply migrated away from Mangazeya. But the biggest final point in the development of the region was the opening of waterways along the Yenisei and Lena rivers, and trading with Mangozeya became much less profitable, especially given the sharp decrease in the number of furs produced. The state also contributed to the decline of the city; in 1620 the death penalty was introduced for arriving in Mangozeya by sea and river. This law was adopted with the assistance of Russian merchants, who had a monopoly on the fur trade from Siberia and did not want to share this tidbit with others. After all, there were no customs posts on the sea routes, and therefore the amount of duty collected from furs sharply decreased, and after the opening of roads through the Yenisei and Lena, as well as the opening of customs posts there, going to such a harsh region by land was the height of stupidity and the death penalty for such an act was abolished. This is how human greed became the cause of the death of a city that could have stood for centuries and become the pearl of not only Taimyr, but the entire north of Russia, had the local authorities been a little more careful and the tsarist authorities a little more loyal.

The Taimyr Peninsula is the northernmost peninsula of Asia, located between the Yenisei Bay of the Kara Sea and the Khatanga Bay of the Laptev Sea, within the Taimyr National District (Krasnoyarsk Territory). Its extreme ledge in the north is Cape Chelyuskin; the southern border of Taimyr is the northern ledge of the Central Siberian Plateau. Its length is about 1000 kilometers, width more than 500 kilometers. The area of ​​the peninsula is about 400 thousand km2. The coast of Taimyr is very indented.
The Taimyr Peninsula is located far beyond the Arctic Circle, on the glaciated edge Great River Siberian. Taimyr is unique in many respects; it stuns the human imagination with its scale - almost 1000 km in latitude and the same in longitude!

The history of the development of Taimyr is fascinatingly interesting. Discoverers and conquerors of the North... How many legendary, sometimes tragic events are associated with these stingy, laconic words! The first Russian pioneers appeared in Taimyr at the beginning of the 17th century.

Daredevils came here for “soft junk” - furs. In 1667, a modest settlement of Dudinka arose in the northern Yenisei - now the capital of the vast Taimyr National District.

And the Great Northern Expedition of the 18th century!... The glorious names of Vasily Pronchishchev, the Laptev brothers, Semyon Chelyuskin, Fyodor Minin and many others are associated with it.

A hundred years later, the great naturalist A.F. walked through the Taimyr land. Middendorf. Later, other famous Arctic explorers visited the sea shores of Taimyr: A. Nordenskiöld, E. Toll, F. Nansen.

In 1918, another legendary polar explorer, R. Amundsen, wintered off the northern shores of Taimyr.

The great Russian explorer, the legend Nikifor Begichev, admires his exploits. Many significant events in Taimyr are associated with this fearless man. He discovered unknown islands in the Khatanga Bay, which were later named after him, actively participated in Arctic expeditions, saved them more than once, selflessly searched for and found tragically dead polar explorers. And he himself was buried in Taimyr land.

At the beginning of the 30s. polar explorers G.A. Ushakov and N.N. Urvantsev first set foot on Severnaya Zemlya and described it in detail.
Source http://www.tallom.ru/taimir/ex4.html

The Byrranga mountain range stretches across the peninsula. It is formed by a system of parallel or en-echelon chains and vast undulating plateaus. The Byrranga Mountains stretch for 1100 km and are over 200 km wide. The valleys of the Pyasina and Taimyr rivers divide the Byrranga mountains into 3 parts - western, middle and eastern with heights of 250-320 m, 400-600 m and 600-1000 m (the highest height is 1146 m). They are composed of rocks of Precambrian and Paleozoic age, among which traps (igneous rocks folded in the form of steps) play an important role.

The climate in the mountains is cold, sharply continental (average January temperatures -30°C, -33°C, July 2°C, 10°C). Spring begins in June, and in August average daily temperatures drop below 0°C. Precipitation ranges from 120 to 400 mm per year. In the east there are glaciers (with a total area of ​​over 50 km2). The mountains are covered with vegetation typical of the rocky arctic tundra; Mosses and lichens predominate.

Lake Taimyr is connected to the Taimyr River. Before flowing into the lake it is called Upper Taimyr (length 567 km), and upon leaving it - Lower Taimyr (187 km). Lake Taimyr - the world's northernmost present large lake. It is located far beyond the Arctic Circle, at the foot of the Byrranga Mountains. The northernmost point of the lake is at 76 degrees northern latitude. Most The lake is covered with ice throughout the year (from late September to June). The water temperature in August rises to +8°C, in winter - slightly above zero.

There are many islands near the coast of the peninsula. These islands are partly low, partly high, round in shape, steep, rocky, some of them have small glaciers. The coastal capes are partly low-lying and partly rocky. The shores of the peninsula itself are also steep in places, falling steeply into the sea that washes them, in places they are low and sloping, although not far from these low shores there are mountains consisting of horizontally lying layers of sedimentary rocks.

East of Cape Chelyuskin to seashore a mountainous country adjoins, then a lowland extends for a considerable distance, and then again a mountainous country appears with low-lying and gently sloping shores between it and the sea. The sea near the coast of the peninsula is generally shallow; in some places there are extensive shallows. The sea is accessible to navigation almost every summer in July and August, although there are small ice fields and significant hummocks and stamuki (single ice blocks).

There is no doubt that the area of ​​the peninsula was once the seabed. Middendorf found sea shells near the Lower Taimyr River that currently live in the Arctic Ocean. The northernmost part of the peninsula is covered with snow almost all year round. Summer here lasts no longer than 6 weeks, and even during this time there are snowstorms. The peninsula is covered with tundra, with the exception of the southern part. The first studies of the Taimyr Peninsula, or rather its coastline, were carried out in the 40s of the 18th century by Russian scientists: Sterlegov, Laptev, Pronchishchev, Chekin and Chelyuskin, in the 40s of the 19th century by academician Middendorf, and the shores of the peninsula and the surrounding sea were explored by Nordenskiöld in 1878 and Nansen in 1893.
Source: http://geography.kz/slovar/tajmyr/

The Taimyr State Nature Reserve was created on February 23, 1979 by Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR. Due to organizational difficulties, it began to really function in 1985.

Taimyr Nature Reserve has a cluster nature and consists of 4 sections - the Main tundra territory in the Khatanga and Dikson regions of the Taimyr Autonomous Okrug, the Ary-Mas, Lukunsky and Arctic sections and a security zone in the Khatanga region of the Taimyr Autonomous Okrug. The reserve's areas cover more than 4 degrees of latitude and represent forest-tundra zones, subzones of southern, typical and arctic plain tundras, as well as mountain tundras of the Byrranga Mountains and the marine area of ​​the Laptev Sea bays.

The main purpose of organizing the reserve was to preserve and study natural lowland and mountain tundra ecosystems in the Main Tundra Territory and the northernmost in the world forest areas in the Ary-Mas and Lukunsky sections. Particular attention was also paid to the protection of the endemic of Russia - the red-breasted goose and the world's largest Taimyr population of wild reindeer.

In 1995, by decision of the UNESCO MAB, the Taimyr Nature Reserve received biosphere status. There is a partnership agreement with NP "Schleswig-Holstein Vattenmeer" (Germany, the Netherlands). Directly near the western border of the reserve there is a wetland of international importance "Gorbita River Delta", the lower reaches of the river. Upper Taimyr included in promising list Ramsar Convention.

The reserve has a Museum of Ethnography and Nature, where collections of cultural and everyday life objects of the indigenous peoples of Taimyr are collected, various exhibitions on the nature of the reserve are held, there is a paleontological collection, and videos are shown. The museum provides classes for schoolchildren.

Up to a thousand people visit the museum every year - local residents, specialists coming to work in the reserve, tourists. Along the boundaries of the reserve there are 2 tourist routes, “Birranga Mountains” and “In the Footsteps of N.N. Urvantsev,” which, due to the very high cost of transport, are visited almost exclusively by foreign tourists.

ingwardust.narod.ru,

What was the main and deeply personal goal of the expeditions for them? Maybe “the weight of memories, where rivers, hills, sweat, cold, blood, fatigue, dreams and the holy feeling of necessary work are mixed” (quote from Oleg Kuvaev’s novel “Territory”)?.. The first of the Russian people visited Taimyr at the beginning XVII century - in order to buy “soft junk”, that is, furs. Apparently, they succeeded, because in 1667 the village of Dudinka, now the administrative center and main port of Taimyr, appeared on the map of the peninsula. The Great Northern Expedition was the name given to the campaign to explore the North in 1733-1743: several expeditions along the Arctic coast of Siberia (“Second Kamchatka Expedition”, “Siberian-Pacific”, “Siberian”), the purpose of which was to pave a sea route to Far East, while simultaneously studying the territories adjacent to the Arctic Ocean. The campaign participants were divided into nine independent detachments. The Lena-Yenisei detachment of forty people under the command of Vasily Pronchishchev (1702-1736) with the navigator Semyon Chelyuskin (1700-1764) in the summer of 1735 on the double boat "Yakutsk" reached the mouth of the Olenyok River, where they wintered for damage to the bottom of the vessel. In the summer of the following year, Pronchishchev from the Khatanga Bay walked along the eastern coast of Taimyr to the north. Having reached the cape, which was later named after him, Pronchishchev ordered to take the opposite course. On August 29, he broke his leg and died the same day. And two weeks later, his wife Tatyana, the world’s first female polar explorer (born in 1713), also died, as her comrades understood, from longing for her husband. In total, Pronchishchev's expedition managed to cover 500 km from Khatanga Bay to Thaddeus Bay. Chelyuskin took command; his group managed to reach the northernmost point of the peninsula, which now bears his name. In 1739-1741, moving on the same heroic boat "Yakutsk", Khariton Laptev (1700-1763) explored Taimyr and compiled the most accurate description and map at that time. The southwestern coast of the peninsula is called the shore of Khariton Laptev, and when naming the Laptev Sea, this honor was given, along with Khariton, to his cousin Dmitry, also a polar explorer who rose to the rank of vice admiral.
Another prominent figure among the researchers of Taimyr, whose name is immortalized on the map, is Nikifor Begichev (1874-1927), twice awarded the Big Gold Medal Russian Academy Sci. As a boatswain, he participated in the polar expedition of Eduard Toll on the schooner "Zarya" to explore the New Siberian Islands in 1900-1902. On this expedition, Toll went missing, and in 1903 Begichev went in search of him, miraculously escaped death and saved his commander Alexander Kolchak. In the summer of 1906, he again went to Taimyr, to Dudinka, and took up the fur trade, but the researcher in him turned out to be stronger than the merchant. In 1908, at the mouth of the Khatanga and Anabar rivers, flowing into the Laptev Sea, he discovered islands that now bear the names Bolshoy Begichev and Maly Begichev. In 1915, he evacuated sailors from the ice-covered barque "Eclipse", which was looking for the missing expeditions of Brusilov and Rusanov, and then from the icebreakers "Taimyr" and "Vaigach" stuck off the northwestern coast of Taimyr. On this expedition, Begichev and his comrades went through places where no European had ever set foot. In 1921, he participated in a Soviet-Norwegian expedition to search for two missing members of Roald Amundsen’s expedition of 1918-1920 on the schooner Maud in Taimyr and discovered the remains of one of them. In 1922, as part of Nikolai Urvantsev’s expedition, Begichev went down the Pyasina River by boat and discovered the remains of another of Amundsen’s companions on Dikson Island. In the village of Dikson in 1964, a monument was erected to Nikifor Begichev. Much of this village today, alas, has fallen into disrepair, but this monument is in order.

Alexander Middendorf (1815-1894) did at least four important things for the development of Taimyr: he improved the maps of Chelyuskin and Laptev based on his own studies of the peninsula, discovered the Putorana Plateau, was the first to formulate the patterns of the Siberian climate, and also determined the geophysical boundaries of the perennial layer ( "permafrost"). Near the Lower Taimyr River, Middendorf in the 1840s collected top layer soil (permafrost thaws only 30 cm) a lot of shells sea ​​mollusks, this proved his own theory that the peninsula rose from the depths of the Arctic Ocean. The baton from him as an explorer of the shores of Taimyr was taken up by the famous polar explorers Swede A. Nordenskiöld in 1878 and Norwegian F. Nansen in 1993. Geologist Nikolai Urvantsev (1893-1985) dedicated his entire life in science to Taimyr, whose expedition in 1920 discovered In the area of ​​the Norilsk River there is a significant coal deposit. And the next year - a deposit of copper-nickel ores with a high platinum content. Despite these merits, Urvantsev served two terms in “correctional” camps: 15 and 8 years, one of them, by a cruel irony of fate, in Norillag. But this did not prevent the “pest”, a doctor of geological and mineralogical sciences, after his release from continuing his work on the development of the subsoil of Taimyr and other northern regions of Russia, Norilsk ore deposit could begin to benefit the country much earlier. Back in the XVI-XVII centuries. residents of Mangazeya, a Western Siberian city on the Taz River, traded copper products smelted from Norilsk ore, this was proven by archaeological and chemical research from 1972-1975. The Mangazeans walked along the river to the location, undoubtedly knowing exactly what they were going for. Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov in 1619, under pain of death, banned navigation on Siberian rivers. For what reasons is not known exactly, although there are different versions, but he was clearly afraid of something, in any case, the ruler acted extremely myopically and shortsightedly. The city fell into decay and disappeared. But Urvantsev knew about Mangazeya and did not let this knowledge go in vain.
The fact that without the ability not to give up in the North you cannot survive is proven by the folklore of its indigenous peoples. They have a complex relationship with civilization and in our time, they find it difficult to socialize, trusting only nature in everything. This is their choice, but for those disinterested collectors of folklore who have studied it - and, fortunately, there are such enthusiasts in Taimyr - a wise and harmonious world opens up. In Norilsk and Dudinka, thematic exhibitions of indigenous peoples’ creativity are often held, scientific research is conducted, in which specialists from the Dolgans, Evenks, and Nenets also take part. Thanks to them, today we can find out how these people see their land, what they learned from the experience of their people. Here, for example, are two Nganasan proverbs: “Hands that don’t like to work cannot keep warm in mittens,” “Don’t put patches on your clothes when partridges are walking along the waistcoats.” And here is how I.S. talks about one custom of this people. Braginsky in the book “Worlds and Tales of the Nganasans” (talking about a competition between young people): “Sitting on both sides of their chosen one, they composed their allegorical songs - improvisations, competing in wit. One of them who, not understanding the allegorical text of his opponent, could not answer it, was considered defeated and gave the winner some kind of metal decoration.” The riddles of the Dolgans, with their laconic figurative form, suggest a similarity with the Japanese haiku couplets: “A herd of deer feeds around the lake” (teeth), “Rime does not stick to a strong tree” (deer antlers). Shamanic spell songs during rituals, if you learn to understand their signs, are a whole program of the path to the light. For the indigenous northerners, the shaman is both a confessor, a judge, and a teacher. This has always been the case, and it will probably continue to be so.

general information

A peninsula in the north of the Asian part of Russia.
Administrative affiliation: The peninsula is part of the Taimyr district of the Krasnoyarsk Territory of the Russian Federation (until 2007 - Taimyr Dolgano-Nenets Autonomous Okrug).
Administrative division: 4 municipal districts - the village of Dikson (within the boundaries of the Dikson district), the village of Dudinka (within the boundaries of the municipal formation “the city of Dudinka and the territory subordinate to the city administration”), the rural settlement of the village of Karaul (within the boundaries of the Ust-Yenisei district), the rural settlement of Khatanga (in borders of the Khatanga region).
Administrative center: Dudinka (25,200 people, 2010).
Languages: Russian, in places where indigenous peoples live compactly - Nganasan, Dolgan, Nenets, Evenki.
Ethnic composition: Russians - 58.6%, Dolgans - 13.9%, Nenets - 7.7%, Nganasans - 1.9%, Evenks - 0.8%, Enets - 0.5%, Ukrainians, Tatars, Belarusians, Azerbaijanis and others - 16.6%.
Religions: Orthodoxy, Islam, animism, shamanism.
The largest settlements in the Taimyr region (outside the peninsula): Dudinka, Khatanga, a total of 28 settlements. The city, which, although surrounded by the lands of the Taimyr region, is not included in it, is administratively a city of regional subordination. However, Norilsk is closely connected with the rest of Taimyr by infrastructure and cultural relations.
Largest rivers:(lower reaches), Pyasina, Upper and Lower Taimyr, Khatanga.
Largest lakes: Taimyr, Portnyagino, Kungasalakh, Labaz, Kokora.
Largest bays: Middendorf, Pyasinsky, Sims. Taimyrsky, Teresa Klavenes, Thaddeus, Maria Pronchishcheva Bay.
The most important ports: Dudinka, Khatanga.
Major airports: in Norilsk (Alykel) and Dudinka.

Numbers

Area: the peninsula itself is about 400 km2, the Taimyr region is 879,900 km2 (it also includes the Arctic archipelagos of Nordenskiöld and Severnaya Zemlya, the islands of Sibiryakov, Uedineniya, Sergei Kirov and others).
Population: Taimyr region - 34,400 people. (2010); Norilsk - 230,100 people (2009).
Population density in the area: 0.039 people/km 2 .
Length of the peninsula: from north to south - 1000 km, from west to east - more than 500 km.
Highest point: is located in the Byrranga mountain range (1146 m).

Economy

Industry of the Taimyr region (mainly outside the peninsula): food, fuel, electric power. Their share in the volume of industrial production in Taimyr is 96.4%.
Agriculture: reindeer husbandry, 18 state unitary agricultural enterprises and 159 peasant farms. More than 30 oil and gas fields have been discovered in the region (the most significant of them are Messoyakha, Pelyatkinskoye, Suzunskoye, Tagulskoye, Payakhskoye, Vankorskoye). The main gold resources belong to the geological Taimyr-Severozemelskaya gold province in the northern part of the peninsula.

Climate and weather

Sharply continental, the peninsula is located beyond the Arctic Circle, many Atlantic cyclones end their existence above it.
Long cold winters with temperatures down to -60°C and below and short cool summers.
At the extreme northern point of the peninsula - Cape Chelyuskin - average annual temperature air temperature is -14.1°C, the average January temperature is -27.7°C, July + 1.5°C.
In Dudinka the average temperatures are respectively:-10.1°C; -28.5°C; + 13.2°C.
In Khatanga: -13.2°C; -38.0°C; +13.1°С.
Average annual precipitation: 400 mm, in winter there is often a blizzard, sometimes lasting up to two weeks.

Attractions

■ Dudinka: Taimyr local history museum(74 thousand exhibits and the modern art project “Fish of Happiness”), the Folk Art Center, the Memorial Museum of the Dolgan artist Boris Molchanov, the House of Culture, where the Taimyr Song and Dance Ensemble of the Peoples of the North “Heiro” is based and gives performances (in addition, often touring abroad) and the Dudinsky Chamber Theater;
■ Khatanga: Mammoth Museum;
■ Dixon: monument to Nikifor Begichev;
■ Cape Chelyuskin: a natural quartz block with a diameter of almost three meters, next to it is a stone pyramid built by members of Roald Amundsen’s expedition in 1919;
■: created in 1979, opened in 1985, consists of five clusters, the title of biosphere was awarded to it by UNESCO in 1995. On the territory of the reserve there is a Museum of Nature and Ethnography. Museum of Ogduo Aksenova, Dolgan poetess and author of the Dolgan primer;
■ Putoransky Nature Reserve(located slightly south of the peninsula, founded in 1988) - a World Heritage Site natural heritage UNESCO.

Curious facts

■ In 1850, a battle on bows took place near Lake Turuchedo on Taimyr. Nenets tribes fought with the Enets. Tungus (Evenks) and Nganasans. The conflict arose over habitats. The Nenets were defeated, but a peace agreement was concluded under which they were allowed to live in a small area on the right bank of the Yenisei
■ Translated from the Nganasan language, the name of the Byrranga mountains means: tori, from which rivers flow with large stones, between which there are valleys where mosses and lichens grow.”
■ Lake Taimyr during the spring flood becomes the fourth largest lake in Russia after Lake Baikal, Ladoga and Onega.
■ Enthusiasts are looking for the mythical “Golden Woman” (presumably a gold statue of the goddess Juno, taken from Rome by barbarians) throughout Siberia. It is known that Ermak Timofeevich was still looking for her. According to Taimyr legends, it is hidden somewhere on the Putorana plateau and is guarded by “wild” Evenks.

Lake Taimyr is located on the Taimyr Peninsula, located between the Kara Sea and the Laptev Sea. There is an assumption that the word “taimyr” among the ancient Tungus meant “rich or valuable.” If we consider that the Tungus had in mind the wealth of lakes, then they were right, since there are indeed a lot of lakes on the territory of the peninsula. Lake Taimyr is the largest and ranks second after Lake Baikal in size.

This lake is located at the foot of the Byrranga Mountains. The Nizhnyaya Taimyr river flows from Lake Taimyr, which flows into the Kara Sea, and the lake is fed with water by the Upper Taimyr, which carries its waters to the lake.

Map of Lake Taimyr (click to enlarge)

Where is Lake Taimyr located? See the map above.

Lake Taimyr can be called a record-breaking lake, since it is the only lake on our planet that occupies the northernmost position far beyond the Arctic Circle.

The lake basin of this lake was formed as a result of glacier activity, so the maximum depth of the lake does not exceed 26 meters.

The northern part of the lake is located in the permafrost zone, so the reservoir is covered with a thick two-meter layer of ice for more than nine months. Over such a long period, more than eighty percent of the surface of the lake’s water freezes to the very bottom. The lake is free of ice cover for less than three months, but even this period cannot be called favorable. At this time, storms and hurricane winds rage over the lake. The northern shores of the lake are composed of rocks that are easily eroded. Therefore, landslides often occur in this part of the lake.

Lake Taimyr, like most reservoirs in Siberia, is characterized by sharp changes in water level, reaching up to seven meters in the lake.

The northern position of the lake determines the temperature regime of this territory. The average annual temperature here does not exceed -13 o, and in July the highest temperature is only 12 o. In this region, polar night and polar day are common occurrences. Due to the harsh conditions, these places are not inhabited by people, so there are no settlements here. The only inhabited place here was once a weather station.

However, some representatives of the animal and plant world have adapted to the local harsh conditions. The waters of the lake are rich in omul, burbot, grayling and vendace; Siberian mason goby, muksun, broad whitefish and whitefish are also found. These places are favored by swans, ducks and geese, peregrine falcons and buzzards. During the short summer, the birds manage to raise their offspring, and with the onset of cold weather they fly south.

Taimyr (Taimyr Peninsula) is a peninsula in Russia, the northernmost mainland part of the Eurasian continent, located between the Yenisei Bay of the Kara Sea and the Khatanga Bay of the Laptev Sea.
According to the nature of the surface, it is divided into 3 parts: the North Siberian Lowland, the Byrranga Mountains (height up to 1125 meters), stretching from southwest to northeast, and the coastal plain along the coast of the Kara Sea. The southern border of the peninsula is considered
Cape Chelyuskin is located on Taimyr - the northern tip (cape) of the Taimyr Peninsula and the northernmost continental point of Eurasia.

The largest rivers of Taimyr:

Pyasina, Upper and Lower Taimyr, Khatanga.

In 1921, during Urvantsev’s expedition, a wooden hut was built, which is considered the first house of Norilsk (the house has survived to this day, now it is the “first house of Norilsk” museum). In 1935, the construction of the Norilsk Mining and Metallurgical Combine named after GULAG began. A. P. Zavenyagina. In March 1939, the first matte was produced at the Small Metallurgical Plant, in June 1939 - the first high-grade matte, in 1942 - the first nickel (anodic, cathodic). Until 1951, the village of Norilsk and the industrial site of the Norilsk plant were located at the northern foot of Mount Schmidtikha, where Urvantsev built the first house (Zero picket); Currently, this is the so-called “old” city; there are no residential buildings there now.
Due to the lack of overland communication with the “mainland”, those living in Norilsk have developed a number of striking cultural features that are characteristic only of this city.

Among these features one can highlight the attitude towards preparing and eating food. In particular, this applies to fresh fruits, meat and fish - among the population there are many hunters and fishermen who are especially skilled in preparing barbecue and sugudai. Among the townspeople, mountain, river and tundra tourism, picking blueberries, lingonberries, cloudberries and mushrooms in the Talnakh region and beyond are popular. Skiing, alpine skiing, and snowboarding are popular due to the abundance of mountains and the very long season. For this purpose, the “Ol-Gul” ski resort and the “Otdelnaya Mountain” ski resort were created. In addition, the two northernmost parachute clubs in the world have been created and operate jointly in Norilsk, the history of which began more than 20 years ago - “Pole” (in the Kayerkan region) and “Emperors of Heaven” (Central region).
As in other cities that appeared at the city-forming metallurgical enterprises, the local population celebrates Metallurgist Day on a large scale. People of indigenous northern nationalities (Nenets, Dolgans, etc.) celebrate the holiday of Heiro - the return of the Sun to the sky after the polar night.

A program is underway to resettle residents from the north. Since the city is located on the Taimyr Peninsula, and also due to the fact that you can get to Norilsk either by air or by water, the rest of Russia is usually called the “mainland”, the expression “move to the mainland” is common.

Economy of the city
The city-forming enterprise is the Polar Branch of the Norilsk Nickel Mining and Metallurgical Company (formerly the Norilsk Mining and Metallurgical Combine). Norilsk is a major center of non-ferrous metallurgy. Non-ferrous metals are mined here: copper, nickel, cobalt; precious metals: palladium, osmium, platinum, gold, silver, iridium, rhodium, ruthenium. By-products: technical sulfur, metal selenium and tellurium, sulfuric acid. The Norilsk plant produces 35% of the world's palladium, 25% of platinum, 20% of nickel, 20% of rhodium, 10% of cobalt. In Russia, 96% of nickel, 95% of cobalt, 55% of copper are produced by the Norilsk Combine. The volume of shipped goods of own production, work and services performed on one's own by types of manufacturing activities in 2007 was 321.5 billion rubles.

DUDINKA CITY Taimyr Peninsula

Dudinka (Non. Tut "yn) is a city of district subordination in the Krasnoyarsk Territory of Russia, the administrative center of the Taimyr Dolgano-Nenets municipal district of the Krasnoyarsk Territory (since 2007, previously - the administrative center of a complex subject of the Russian Federation Taimyr (Dolgano-Nenets) Autonomous Okrug within the Krasnoyarsk Territory ) Located on the right bank of the Yenisei River at the confluence of the Dudinka tributary, after which the city got its name. Population - 22,410 people (2014). The head of the city since November 7, 2005 is Alexey Mikhailovich Dyachenko.
The first mention of the “Dudino winter hut” dates back to 1667. Dudinka became the administrative and cultural center of the Taimyr (Dolgano-Nenets) national district on December 10, 1930. On March 5, 1951, by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, the village of Dudinka was transformed into a city of district subordination.
The need to connect Dudinka with Murmansk with a year-round line was associated with the development of the Norilsk plant, which required the constant delivery of goods from Dudinka along the Northern Sea Route.

In 1972, an experimental Arctic voyage was carried out, and on May 1, 1978, the nuclear icebreaker “Sibir” and the icebreaker “Captain Sorokin” led a caravan of two diesel-electric ships to Dudinka: “Pavel Ponomarev” and “Navarin”. This event meant that year-round navigation was opened in the Arctic.

KHATANGA
Khatanga is a village in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, one of the northernmost settlements Russia, port. The village is located on the Khatanga River. Center of the Khatanga rural settlement.

Interest in the territories adjacent to the Khatanga basin arose at the beginning of the 17th century. At the very beginning of the century, the Mangazeya fort was founded on the Taz River, from where Russian explorers began advancing further to the Far North. In 1605, the Katanga River was mentioned for the first time in the records of English merchants. In 1610, the first major trip of trade and industrial people to Taimyr by sea took place.
Khatanga was founded in 1626. This year is considered to be the date of the annexation of the Khatanga region to Russia. The yasak winter hut on Khatanga changed three names. In addition to the Khatanga yasak winter hut, located in the upper reaches of Khatanga, there was a second yasak winter hut, Nos, or Kozlovo, located on the site of the present village of Khatanga. It arose in 1660-1670. The main reason for choosing this particular place was the high river ravine, inaccessible to floods, from which a good view of the river opens. Explorers called such high steep peninsulas, or capes, on rivers and seas “noses” or “socks.”
In the second half of the 17th century, a state yasak winter hut was established. The high river tract on which the village of Khatanga stands is still called “Nasko” by the Dolgans.
According to information from 1859, the village had five households, nine residents (five males, four females), and a church. In Khatanga in the 19th century, the main occupations were fishing and hunting. In 1891, according to information from priest K. Repyev, there were 6 houses in Khatanga, as well as a church house and a grain store, which had almost no bread.

polar blizzard Taimyr Peninsula

ANCIENT HISTORY OF TAIMYR
About eight thousand years ago, the Taimyr land was freed from glaciers, and flora and fauna similar to modern ones appeared. The descendants of Neolithic hunters and fishermen who lived along the edges of glaciers and Arctic seas flocked here. So a permanent population appeared in Taimyr no later than the 5th millennium BC. The climate here was warmer and more humid then than it is now. The border of the forest and tundra was 300-400 km north of the modern one - so not only in the southern, but also in the central part of Taimyr, pine trees and birch trees grew. Ancient hunters came here from the southeast, from the Lena River. Their seasonal sites were found on the Pyasina River and in the basin of the Kheta and Khatanga rivers. They used tools made from thin flint plates and did not yet know pottery - such a culture is called Mesolithic.

The oldest known settlement of the inhabitants of Taimyr was discovered on the left bank of the Tagenar River, 5 km from its confluence with the Volochanka River, on a path along which it was very convenient to cross from the Yenisei River basin to the Yenisei River basin. Lena. The people who lived here were hunters and fishermen. The main object of hunting is reindeer, and the main object of fishing is nelma, whitefish, and broad whitefish.

At the end of the 4th and beginning of the 3rd millennium BC. In Taimyr, a unique culture of the people who came from the banks of the Lena began to develop. This culture is called Neolithic. Neolithic - New Stone period - got its name from the new, in comparison with the Paleolithic and Mesolithic, manufacturing techniques stone tools using grinding, sawing, drilling stone. People of the Neolithic culture began to make clay pots with a mesh-shaped ornament.

At one of the sites (Maimeche 1), a round pit of their dwelling was excavated - this is a cone-shaped structure made of wooden poles, covered with pieces of turf, turned outwards with the earth... in addition, inside the structure there was a deep pit, leaving a wide ledge along the side walls and opposite the entrance for bunks, and a hearth was built in the center of the pit.

At the end of the 1st and in the 1st millennium AD. Iron tools occupy a leading place in the everyday life of Taimyr residents. Bronze was used to decorate clothing. Of the stone tools, the longest used were scrapers for processing hides. An important stage for the ancient inhabitants of Taimyr was the mastery of bronze casting technology. At the Abylaakh 1 site (1150 BC), during excavations, a bronze foundry was found - the northernmost one known at present. Very interesting finds were vessels (crucibles) made of sandstone for melting bronze, and a mold for an anthropomorphic figurine.
By the end of the 1st millennium AD. people came to Taimyr from Western Siberia, which brought a new Vozhpai culture, belonging to the ancient Samoyeds (ancestors of the modern Enets, Nganasans). A monument to this culture is the Dune 3 site on the Pyasina River. Round-bottomed pots were found there, decorated around the neck with bands of patterns of penetrating triangles and other compositions made with comb imprints.

HISTORY OF RESEARCH OF TAIMYR
Due to the harsh climate, Taimyr remained uninhabited for a long time. The first people came here (the Kheta River basin) from the territory of Yakutia in the 5th-4th millennium BC. e. - these were foot Mesolithic reindeer hunters (Tagenar VI).
In the 2nd millennium BC. e. Tribes of the Ymyyakhtakh culture related to the Yukaghirs penetrated into Taimyr along the same route. In historical times, in the southeast of the peninsula, the Tavgi lived here - the westernmost tribe of the Yukaghirs, assimilated by the Samoyeds and included in the Nganasans.
The Nganasans as a special Samoyed ethnic group emerged in Taimyr in the second half of the 17th - early 18th centuries. It included tribal groups of different origins (Pyasida Samoyeds, Kuraks, Tidiris, Tavgis, etc.). In the summer, the Nganasans migrated on reindeer sleds into the depths of the tundra of the Taimyr Peninsula, and by winter they set up their tents on the northern border of the Siberian taiga.
Written sources contain mention of one sea voyage dating back to the 80s of the 17th century, from the Yenisei around Taimyr with the aim of reaching the mouth of the Lena River. The Dutchman N. Witsen, from the words of the Tobolsk voivode Golovin, reports that in 1686, a townsman from Turukhansk, Ivan Tolstoukhov, set out on a sea expedition on three Kochs, but went missing.
During the Great Northern Expedition in 1736, Vasily Pronchishchev explored the eastern coast of the peninsula from Khatanga Bay to Thaddeus Bay. In 1739-1741 the first geographical survey and the description of Taimyr was made by Khariton Laptev. He also composed the first one accurate map peninsula. In 1741, Semyon Chelyuskin continued his research east coast and in 1742 he discovered the northernmost point of Taimyr - a cape that later received his name - Cape Chelyuskin.

The Taimyr Peninsula was also deeply explored and scientifically described by the Russian researcher A.F. Middendorf. N. N. Urvantsev made a great contribution to the geological and topographic study of Taimyr.

In the thirties of the 20th century, Ivan Papanin’s colleague, Chuvash polar explorer and surveyor Konstantin Petrov, made his contribution to the study of the northern part of the peninsula. While in Taimyr, he discovered and mapped several new rivers and peninsulas, giving them names in his native language[

A WORSHIP CROSS IS ESTABLISHED AT THE NORTHERN MOST POINT OF EURASIA
Krasnoyarsk, October 5, 2009
On October 2, on the final day of the archpastoral visit to the northern parishes of the Krasnoyarsk diocese, Archbishop Anthony of Krasnoyarsk and Yenisei, accompanied by a missionary group of diocesan clergy, arrived from the village of Khatanga to Cape Chelyuskin to install a worship cross. Cape Chelyuskin, lying at 77°43" north latitude, is the northernmost continental point of Eurasia, the northern tip of the Taimyr Peninsula.
The rite of erecting the cross was performed by Bishop Anthony in the concelebration of the steward of the Krasnoyarsk diocese, the abbot of the Holy Dormition Monastery, the rector of the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Krasnoyarsk, Archimandrite Nektary (Seleznev), the dean of the Taimyr deanery, Archpriest Mikhail Grenaderov, and the clergy of Taimyr, the diocese website reports.
In connection with the blessed event that took place, the archpastor again emphasized the purely church-patriotic meaning of this action, carried out jointly with the leadership of Taimyr: “The cross was erected on the shore of the Arctic Ocean so that it could be clearly seen on the northernmost borders of Russia: this is our Orthodox state.” . Vladyka shared his spiritual joy with those participating in the trip: his long-standing episcopal intention and dream of his youth had come true - to visit the northern borders of the Fatherland and perform a conciliar prayer on them for the further spiritual revival of Russia.
On the same day, the bishop visited the border outpost, where he gave an archpastoral blessing to the border guards carrying out responsible public service in the extreme conditions of the north.
Colonel Vladimir Chmykhailo, Head of the Regional Pontranichny Administration, who participated in the trip, presented commemorative public medals for the 90th anniversary of the Russian border troops and memorial signs to Archbishop Anthony, the economist of the Krasnoyarsk diocese, Archimandrite Nektariy (Seleznev), and representatives of the clergy of the diocese.

INDIGENOUS POPULATION OF TAIMYR
Modern Nganasans are descendants of the northernmost tundra population of Eurasia - Neolithic wild deer hunters. Archaeological data show a close connection between the first inhabitants of the peninsula and the population of the Middle and Lower Lena basin, from where they entered Taimyr approximately 6 thousand years ago. The Nganasans as a special ethnic group emerged in Taimyr in the second half of the 27th - early 28th centuries. It included tribal groups of different origins (Pyasida Samoyeds, Kuraks, Tidiris, Tavgis, etc.).
The main occupations of the Nganasans were hunting wild deer, arctic fox, reindeer herding and fishing. Compared to their neighbors, the Enets and Nenets, the Nganasans stood out special significance On their farm they hunt wild reindeer. They hunted wild deer mainly in the fall through collective hunting at river crossings, stabbing them with spears from canoes. They also used belt nets into which hunters drove wild deer. In addition, in summer and autumn the Nganasans hunted wild deer on foot, alone and in small groups.

By the middle of the 19th century, the Nganasans were already considered traditional reindeer herders. Reindeer husbandry of the Nganasans was typically Samoyed, sledding. In terms of the number of deer, the Nganasans were perhaps the richest among other peoples inhabiting Taimyr. Among the Nganasans, deer served exclusively as a means of transportation, and therefore were extremely valued and protected. In the summer, the Nganasans migrated deep into the tundra of the Taimyr Peninsula, and by winter they returned to the northern border of forest vegetation. The presence of domestic herds and hunting of wild deer, the location of nomadic camps in the northernmost reaches of the peninsula, and the use of homemade tools for labor and hunting allowed them to be completely independent almost until the end of the 19th century.

The technology of the Nganasans, compared to their neighbors the Dolgans, was at a lower level. All production was almost consumer in nature, serving on-farm needs. Almost everyone in his household was both a woodworking master and a blacksmith, although the most capable in any one industry were often singled out, for example, good craftsmen in the production of sledges and weaving mauts.
Traditional clothing was made from various parts of deer skins of different ages and different seasons of the year with different heights and strength of fur. One-piece men's outerwear was sewn with fur on the inside and fur on the outside. The inner part, without a hood with the fur facing the body, is made from 2-3 skins of autumn or winter deer, the outer part with a hood is made from short-haired skins in dark and light tones. Alternating parts of dark and light skins on outerwear with a dark or light rectangle clearly marked on the back and 2-3 ornamented stripes below it - characteristic feature Nganasan clothes.
Women's winter clothing is of the same type, but with a slit in the front, with a small collar made of white fox fur, without a hood, which is replaced by a double hat trimmed with long black dog fur. Along the hem, the inner and outer parts of the clothing are also trimmed with a trim of white dog fur. Long colored straps are attached to the top line of the dorsal rectangle.
In winter in very coldy On top of ordinary clothes they put on another one (sokui) made of thick winter deer fur with the hair facing outward with a hood with a white standing plume in front, by which neighbors unmistakably recognize the Nganasan. Funeral or ritual clothing was made from colored cloth.

To decorate their festive clothes, the Nganasans used a geometric striped pattern similar to the Nenets, but smaller and made not of fur, but of leather. The ornament was called moth. Most often, Nganasan women carved the ornament “by hand”, without using any templates and without preliminary drawing. Coloring of clothes was quite common among the Nganasans.

The veneration of the earth, sun, moon, fire, water, wood, the most important commercial and domestic (deer, dog) animals and their incarnations under the name of mothers, on whom the health, fishing and the very life of people depend and with which the main calendar and family rituals are associated - characteristic features of traditional beliefs of the Nganasans. They display extremely archaic features of ideas about nature and man, which existed for a long time in relatively isolated polar communities. They still persist among older people. Feeding the fire and family religious objects is a mandatory ritual.

In traditional Nganasan society, almost every nomadic Nganasan group had its own shaman, who defended the interests of his clan before supernatural forces. The shaman, as an intermediary between the world of people and the world of spirits, was an outstanding figure. He had a good voice, knew the folklore of his people, had a phenomenal memory, and was observant. The main functions of the shaman were associated with basic crafts, ensuring good luck in hunting and fishing, the shaman guessed the places and timing of the hunt. Also important functions Shamans were treating the sick, helping during childbirth, predicting the future for members of the clan, and interpreting dreams.

POPIGAI BATTLE
The largest of the reliable meteorite craters is the Popigai Basin. It is located in the north of the Siberian Platform, in the Khatanga River basin, in the valley of its right tributary, the Popigai River. Administratively, it belongs almost entirely to Yakutia and, in part, to the Taimyr municipal district. The dimensions of the internal crater are 75 km, and the diameter of the external one reaches 100 km. The catastrophe occurred 30 million years ago. The cosmic body with high speed penetrated a thickness of sediments of 1200 m and slowed down in the basement rocks of the Siberian platform. According to preliminary estimates, the explosion energy reached 1023 J, that is, it was 1000 times greater than during the most powerful volcanic explosion.

The conditions that existed at the epicenter at the time of the explosion can be judged by the fact that minerals created during the disaster were found in the crater. Such minerals were obtained artificially at shock pressures of 1 million bar and a temperature of about a thousand degrees C. Large blocks of crystalline rocks from the platform’s foundation ejected during the explosion scattered to a distance of up to 40 km from the edge of the crater. Cosmic explosion caused meltdown rocks, resulting in the formation of lava with a high silica content (65%), sharply different in composition from the deep basaltic eruptions of the Siberian Platform.

However, the Popigai Basin is also the world's largest primary diamond deposit. One of the discoverers of this deposit is Viktor Lyudvigovich Masaitis. V.L. Masaitis was born in 1926. After graduating from the Leningrad Mining Institute, he searched for diamonds. In 1952, together with I.I. Krasnov theoretically substantiated and compiled a forecast map about the association of bedrock diamondiferous rocks with fault zones, which was fully confirmed in the course of further discoveries.
The flora and fauna of the Popigai Basin are also unique. Gmelin larch grows here, and capercaillie, elk, bear and sable are found. Low larch trees crawl along the ramparts of the crater all the way to the 72nd parallel, this is only a few minutes south of the northernmost forest in the world, which is also located in the Krasnoyarsk Territory at the Lukunskaya and Ary-Mas cordons of the Taimyrsky Nature Reserve.

The Popigai impact crater is included in the UNESCO World Geological Heritage List as an object to be preserved and further studied.

POMORIA SAIVERS - WHO DISCOVERED TAIMYR
In 1940, a group of hydrographic sailors from the ship “Nord” discovered a large number of various antiques and Russian coins of the 16th-17th centuries off the eastern coast of Taimyr, on the northern Thaddeus Island and on the shores of Simsa Bay. In 1945, the Arctic Institute sent a special archaeological expedition led by Doctor of Historical Sciences A.P. Okladnikov for detailed study polar opening.

The results of this expedition were sensational. Hundreds of silver coins, remains of silk fabrics and cloth clothes that were expensive in the old days were found here. silver rings With precious stones, jewelry crosses of fine filigree work, fragments of unprecedented tools and weapons. Particularly important are the results of numismatic analysis, which dates the collection of coins to the first quarter of the 17th century, or rather, determines that the collection of the treasury was completed by its owners around 1615-1617.

Compasses and sundial, which is indisputable evidence of the high level of seafaring culture of Russian polar expeditions of the 17th century. Russian navigation instruments could only get into the Laptev Sea from Pomerania, where at that time the population was familiar with Arabic numerals and Latin letters.[*] [Okladnikov A.P. Russian polar sailors of the 17th century off the coast of Taimyr. - M., 1957. - P.43.]

Vivid proof that the Pomors were seafarers is not only household items and clothing, but also samples of Russian writing discovered by the expedition. On the wooden handle of one of the knives, researcher V.V. Gaiman read the name of the owner - Akaki, nicknamed Murmanets. [*] [Historical monument of Russian Arctic navigation of the 17th century. - L., 1951. - P.29.]

Written sources contain mention of one sea voyage dating back to the 80s of the 17th century, from the Yenisei around Taimyr with the aim of reaching the mouth of the Lena River. The Dutchman N. Witsen, from the words of the Tobolsk voivode Golovin, reports that in 1686, a townsman from Turukhansk, Ivan Tolstoukhov, set out on a sea expedition on three Kochs, but went missing.

Who was Ivan Tolstoukhov? The Tolstoukhovs are well-known trading people from Pomerania, who were among the first to penetrate the Urals. There is information that the founder of this trading house, Leonty Tolstoukhov, visited the Yenisei at the end of the 16th century. For many years, the Tolstoukhovs were associated with Mangazeya navigation and trading affairs on the Yenisei and Yakutsk. And therefore, it is no coincidence that one of the representatives of this commercial and industrial dynasty, Ivan Tolstoukhov, attempted to build a new sea route from the Yenisei to the Lena. [*] [Belov M.I. Mangazeya... - P.116-118.]

According to the testimony of the head of the Yenisei detachment of the Great Northern Expedition F.A. Minin, his detachment in 1738 discovered a cross built by Tolstoukhov in memory of his stay in 7195 (1686-1687) in Omulevaya Bay, near the Krestovoe winter quarters, on the right bank of the Yenisei Bay. In 1700 F.A. Minin found the winter hut of the industrialist Tolstoukhov north of the Pyasina River. [*] [Belov M.I. Semyon Dezhnev. - M., 1955. - P.139.] Thus, traces of Ivan Tolstoukhov’s campaign can be traced over a long distance from the Yenisei Bay to the area north of the Pyasina River and end in the treeless tundra of Taimyr. An assumption arises whether the area of ​​Sims Bay and Thaddeus Island was the place of death of one of the groups of Ivan Tolstoukhov’s large expedition.

The question of the route of the expedition of Pomeranian sailors remains not yet fully clarified. However, it is indisputable, and most historians and other specialists have come to this conclusion, that its participants, traveling from west to east, passed the strait between the Kara and Laptev seas on their ship and rounded Cape Chelyuskin. As for the final goal of the campaign, apparently, the sailors sought to reach the regions of Khatanga and Lena. [*] [Historical monument of Russian Arctic navigation... - P.211.]

The first Pomor gangs came to the mouth of the Yenisei and into the Pyasinskaya tundra following the founding of the Turukhansk fort. According to the ancient yasak book of Man-Gazeya, Pomors and service people reached the mouth of the Yenisei by 1607. The Enets, who lived here in a tribal system, were subordinate to Moscow.[*] [Belov M.I. History of discovery and development... - Vol.1. - P.128.]

We have received information, albeit very scanty, about the Mezen sailor and Siberian explorer nicknamed the Wolf, who visited Mangazeya twice. He, with a detachment of Vazhans and Pechora people, was one of the first to go to the country of the Tungus and to the Geta River. The remarkable writer and researcher Sergei Markov believes that this was the Kuta River, and pays tribute to the brave Wolf, “whose stern name should be included in the chronicle of the most important discoveries of our explorers.” [*] [Markov S. Circle of the Earth... - P.301-302.]

Special mention should be made of the Pomeranian sailors who annually went to the “golden-boiling sovereign’s estate.” Such were Motka Kirilov, mentioned in Mangazeya affairs - “an old sailor and expert on the sea”, Pinezhan Mikitka Stakheev Mokhnatka, who “goes by sea for custom” and who “knows to go by sea”, famous Pinezhan Levka Plekhan (Shubin Lev Ivanovich), who is mentioned in among those who went to Mangazeya by sea during the reign of Boris Godunov. In documents from 1633, his son Klementy Plekhanov is also named. [*] [Bakhrushin S.V. Scientific works... - T. 3. - 4.1. - P.300.]

Simultaneously with the advance to Pyasina along rivers and portages, the trading people of Turukhansk tried to get there along the “icy sea”. In the spring of 1610, the people of Severodvinsk, led by Kondraty Kurochkin and Osip Shepunov, on ships built near Turukhansk, went to the mouth of the Yenisei with the intention of going further by sea to the east.

The surviving documents allow us to get an idea of ​​the leader of the campaign, Kurochkin, as an observant person who had extensive maritime knowledge and a broad geographical outlook. Here is just one of the notes he made: “it was easy to travel from the sea to the Yenisei with large ships; the river is pleasing, there are pine forests and black (deciduous - V.B.) forest and arable places, and all kinds of fish in that river are the same as in the Volga, and many of our agricultural and industrial people live on the river,” [*] [Miller G.F. History of Siberia... - T.II. - 1941. - P.232.]

GREAT SHAMANS OF THE NYA PEOPLE

Great Shaman of the Nya people

People endowed with unusual abilities have always attracted attention and occupied an important position in society. Especially when everyday life depended heavily on the forces of nature and technology was not sufficiently developed. That is why, in places where modern civilization reached with a significant delay, until quite recently it was possible to meet people with exceptional power and knowledge - shamans.

We will tell you about one of them - the last great shaman of the Nganasans, Tubyaku Kosterkin.

001. FREE HUNTERS

The Nganasans are one of the oldest indigenous peoples of the North, living in Taimyr.

Until recently, they were fully preserved as a genetically pure people, almost not subjected to assimilation, they used their own language, staunchly maintaining their national identity and traditional cultural features.

This was facilitated by the archaic way of life of the ethnic group that had developed over centuries. The Nganasans lived in large families, the elderly enjoyed great respect, the younger members of the family unquestioningly obeyed their decisions, the younger long years learned from their elders and then passed on their knowledge to the next generation.

According to legend, during their first meeting with the Russians they were asked: who are you? And they heard the answer: nganasan, which means “men.” That's what they've been called ever since. The Nganasans themselves call themselves “nya,” which in meaning is closest to the Russian word “comrades.”

The famous ethnographer L. Dobrova-Yadrintseva in her book “Natives of the Turukhansk Territory” (1925) wrote about the Nganasans: “They are proud, withdrawn, alien to everything that comes to them from the outside and, valuing their freedom, do not recognize any external circumstances.”

The Nganasans were considered the best foot hunters of wild deer in the Arctic. Not only did they not use reindeer sleds, but they also did not keep domesticated reindeer at all. A herd of deer was tracked and then driven into a specially equipped ambush, where the animals were killed with spears and arrows.

002. THEY COULD FLY AND KILLED ENEMIES AT A DISTANCE

The harsh living conditions - on the one hand, the isolation of the ethnic group, a strict hierarchy and strict adherence to traditions - on the other, led to the fact that it was among the Nganasans that the most powerful and influential shamans appeared.

The primacy of the Nganasan shamans was recognized by the Yakuts, Evenks, Dolgans, Forest Enets and other neighboring peoples. Their shamans often asked the Nganasans for help, tried not to enter into conflicts with them and were very afraid of angering them.

Fierce competition also took place between the Nganasan shamans, whose battles became an element of the epic: “huge stones flew off the cliffs and rolled with a roar into the abyss, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled”...

It was believed that the most powerful Nganasan shamans could “eat a person” - that is, send death to him with the help of helping spirits; kill an opponent by cutting his mark with a knife or piercing a figurine-bed with a sharp object; induce illness and cure illnesses; find thieves and lost items; find people lost in the tundra; predict the future; fly above the ground and perform other miracles.

In the 19th century, Russian missionaries reported that their stories about the miraculous flights of saints did not make any impression on the Nganasans, since, according to them, this was not particularly difficult for the shamans. Traveling in our world, a shaman could easily turn into a bird or a tornado.

003. THREE WORLDS AND THE EARTH'S AXIS

In the understanding of the Nganasans, there was no division into the natural and the irrational, and the universe was divided into three worlds: upper, lower and middle.

The upper world is inhabited by good deities and spirits, in communication with which a person acts only as a begging party.

The middle world is our land. Every plant or animal, mountain or lake, any natural phenomenon carries within itself a vital principle, represented by an independent spirit. Spirits are good (ngou) and evil (barusi). Evil spirits harm a person; you can protect yourself from them or influence them by resorting to the help of a shaman.

The lower world is located underground. It is home to the souls of the dead and many evil spirits that crawl out through holes in the ground to harm people in every possible way. Shamans can descend to the lower world to guide the soul of the deceased there, or to take away the soul of a seriously ill person from an evil spirit and return it to the middle world.

004. HEAVENLY DEER AND WOLVERINE

The tasks of shamans included transmitting information from the world of people to the world of spirits, negotiating with spirits and forcing them to help the people whom the shamans represented. At the same time, the shaman transmitted the will and desire of the spirits to the human world.

Traveling in the upper world, the shaman could take the form of a helping spirit: a celestial deer or bird. The shaman most often penetrated the lower world in the form of a bear or wolverine.

The shaman's position in society depended directly on his strength. Great Shaman evoked fear and respect. Thanks to the help of spirits, he could indicate the best place and time for hunting or fishing, treat animals and people, and foresee and predict events.

Communicating with spirits and traveling in the upper and lower worlds, the shaman fell into a state of trance and performed a special ritual - ritual. The necessary attributes of the ritual are a tambourine, a mallet and a shamanic costume, the main spirit-helper of the shaman. Only by wearing it could the shaman communicate with spirits and move to other worlds.

The more iron pendants adorned the shaman’s costume, the stronger he was considered. Everything was used: coins, military awards (“Badge of Honor”, ​​“For Victory over Germany”), forks, hooks, metal chains, padlocks, gears... Sometimes the weight of such a suit reached 30 kilograms or more.

The aged shaman passed on his costume, crown, tambourine and knowledge to his eldest son, and it was believed that shamans were chosen by spirits who were once shamans themselves - the ancestors of the chosen one.

005. WITHOUT IRON TO THE MOON

The last Nganasan shaman, Tubyaku Kosterkin, came from the ancient shamanic family of Ngamtuso.

It is known that Tubyaku drowned as a child. His father Duhade, who was a great Nganasan shaman, found him and revived him.

“The water carried me away for the whole day,” Tubyaku said. — The sun had already set; there were no clocks then. I was very young then. They barely found my body. My father revived me - my father was a shaman. Then the father said that this child would be my replacement. My father said: as I lived, so should you live. And I carried out my father's orders. He shamanized both days and nights. I performed shamanism everywhere I was invited... If I took on any sick person, even a sick person, even a woman in labor, I would not let anyone go (that is, I would heal). So I lived, I had nothing bad towards people...”

However, all this did not prevent the Soviet authorities from considering Tubyaka an ideological enemy and saboteur and sending him “for reforging” to the camps for promoting the pagan cult. They say that another shaman wrote a denunciation against Tubyaka out of envy, and he was also given a sentence, thinking that it would be fair.

Tubyaku was one of the few to survive the “ten” in Norillag, and upon being released with a clear conscience, he went on foot to his native tundra (about 500 kilometers). And although he did not abandon the business bequeathed by his father, they did not touch him anymore. Tubyaku explained the unexpected softness of the authorities by the fact that in the zone he had created a good spirit-helper - a “bed-law”, through whom he was able to resolve all the difficulties in the lower world in relations with the harmful spirits of the Soviet regime.

Great Shaman of the Nya people
Tubyaku Kosterkin

The spirits agreed, and Tubyaka was never arrested again. The district police officer did not even take away his tambourine and mallet, which happened everywhere in the Soviet Union to clergy.

Tubyaku Kosterkin lived a glorious life: he treated diseases, predicted the weather, found lost people in the tundra, stopped a blizzard.

They tell how in the 80s polar explorers came to Tubyak while crossing the Soviet north. They found an old man watching the launch of a spaceship on TV. “Why did they take so much iron into space? - Tubyaku asked and looked at the polar explorers with great pity. “I’ve been to the moon twice without any iron at all...”

One of the greatest experts national culture Nganasan, Tubyaku willingly collaborated with scientists. With his help, hundreds of songs and tales were recorded, which were subsequently deciphered and translated into Russian by Tubyaku’s daughter, folklorist Nadezhda Kosterkina.

006. SPIRIT OF THE COSTUME

In 1982, after the death of his wife, who usually helped him in rituals, Tubyaku decided that the spirits had left him and agreed to be persuaded by the staff of the Dudinsky Museum to give them a shaman costume, a tambourine and other items. However, he negotiated for himself the opportunity to come to the museum to communicate with the suit, which he did more than once in subsequent years, sitting on the floor near a warm radiator.

The shamanic costume of Tubyaku Kosterkin, once given to him by his father, Dyuhade, is still kept in the Dudinsky Museum. Here they treat him in a very special way: they respect the suit and try not to disturb it unless absolutely necessary. “You don’t need to take pictures of it,” the guide warns visitors. “Not because it’s prohibited, it’s just that it could break your camera.” And several such cases have already been recorded.

The costume really makes a strong and very ambiguous impression. He stands in a darkened pavilion, as if wearing an invisible man, chained to the wall (so that he doesn’t run away?), bristling with sharp horns (so that evil spirits could not be taken by surprise). And if you find a certain position, you really feel waves of energy, like a large tremor running through the body.

They say that Lenya Kosterkin, Tubyaku’s son, came to the museum more than once to ask for advice from the spirit of his father’s shaman costume. They say others are coming...

Forest guide ***

It was an August evening with a warm breeze and the already setting sun, somewhere behind the treetops, saying goodbye to today. The forest rustled quietly, goosebumps swarmed, and everyone ran off to sleep.
The village in which I happened to live in the Taimyr region, with my friend. The edges there are very beautiful. Their neighbor, Gleb, a man of 35-40 years old, invited us to hunt, it was a novelty and interesting for us, we happily agreed. The locals have known him since childhood, and his wife and son too.
And so early morning, dawn, we are already assembled and ready “for work and defense,” as they say. Everything is in anticipation, there is intrigue in the eyes.
We were walking through the forest, the grass was turning green, there was a clearing ahead, it was already about 9 am, Gleb bent down and gestured for us to do the same, we fell silent, we looked, a young deer was grazing under the trees. Gleb aimed to shoot with his carbine, and there was a growl from the side of us. We were numb.

We turn around - WOLF. He looks at us point blank, bares his teeth. I think: “Well, that’s it, the Titanic has sailed.” Gleb just wanted to move the gun, the wolf lunged forward, showing that he would obviously be faster. Seasoned, black, big, sharp fangs. It growls, but does not attack. I remembered how my father taught me that wolves are “guardians of the forest, and they understand everything perfectly, better than many other animals.”

I couldn’t think of anything better than to start talking to him, quietly, calmly, or rather even explain that we would leave and not hurt anyone, they probably took me for a patient, but it started to work out. He stopped growling. He looked with such big pitiful eyes, ran back and looked. We wanted to slowly leave, but that was not the case. He ran ahead of us and looked again:
- Maybe he's calling us? - Anya suggested.
- Almost killed us, and now he’s calling us? Girls, are you out of your mind?
- Show me! - Anka commanded the forest “guide”.
No matter how strange it was, he seemed to understand and went to lead, somewhere to the side, into the wilderness.
We walked like this for probably about 2 hours, without fear and didn’t think for a minute whether we needed it, rather, on the contrary, we wanted it, I don’t understand why, but we were drawn there. We came to some swamp, and he continued running through the swamp, we followed on his heels, we crossed the swamp and already on the other side we realized that we had forgotten about the sticks and how could the animal know about the road in the swamp?
And our “guide” urges us on, clicks his teeth, twitches, shows that we need to hurry. We follow him further and come to a ravine, probably 3 meters deep. And below is a girl from our village, she seems to be 12 years old or so. There were two more wolves sitting on the other side of the ravine; they saw us, stood up and left. Gleb went down into the ravine, picked up the little girl in his arms, and Anya and I pulled her up together.

The wolf sat and watched all this, then, when Gleb also got out, the four-legged one came closer, looked carefully at the girl and walked towards the swamp, looking at us. After leading us through the swamp, he turned around, glanced at us and ran away. It took us 4-5 hours to get to the village. Gleb couldn’t envy him with the girl in his arms, but he didn’t have much stamina, seasoned hunter I stopped every 4-5 minutes for 10 minutes to rest.
As it turned out, Lera didn’t remember anything at all: in the morning she went for brushwood, went into the forest, walked a couple of meters and there was a failure. Her next memories began from the moment she woke up late in the evening with the paramedic.

What happened then and why the wolves behaved this way remains a mystery to us to this day.

____________________________________________________________________________________

SOURCE OF INFORMATION AND PHOTO:
Team Nomads
Urvantsev N.N. Taimyr is my northern region. - M.: Mysl, 1978. - P. 6. - 238 p.
Mountains that cannot be conquered - [Polar Truth. No. 55 dated 04/18/2008]
Magidovich V., Magidovich I. Geographical discoveries and studies of the 17th-18th centuries. - M.: Tsentrpoligraf, 2004. - 495 p. — ISBN 5-9524-0812-5.
Troitsky V. A. Geographical discoveries of N. A. Begichev in Taimyr. // Chronicle of the North, vol. 8. M., Thought
http://www.pravoslavie.ru/
Leonid Platov. The land of seven herbs.
Vegetation of the Taimyr Nature Reserve
http://gruzdoff.ru/
Wikipedia website
Photo by Vladimir R., Alexey Voevodin
http://www.photosight.ru/
http://www.skitalets.ru/books/taimyr_urvantsev/
Taimyr is my northern land,