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Russian Rocky: removed Category:Landforms of Altai Republic; added Category:Landforms of the Altai Republic using HotCat

2017-03-31T06:52:30Z

removed Category:Landforms of Altai Republic; added Category:Landforms of the Altai Republic using HotCat

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[[Image:Ukok Plateau.jpg|thumb|200px|Ukok Plateau]]
[[Image:Mummy of the Ukok Princess.jpg|thumb|200px|Mummy of the [[Siberian Ice Maiden]]]]
[[Image:PazyrikHorseman.JPG|thumb|200px|Horseman, Pazyryk felt artifact, c. 300 BC]]
[[Image:Pazyrykfull.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Pazyryk culture|Pazyryk]] carpet, 5th century BC]]
'''Ukok Plateau''' is a remote and pristine [[grasslands]] area located in the heart of southwestern [[Siberia]], the [[Altai Mountains]] region of [[Russia]] near the borders [[China-Russia border|with China]], [[Kazakhstan-Russia border|Kazakhstan]] and [[Mongolia-Russia border|Mongolia]]. The plateau is recognized as part of the [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Site]] entitled [[Golden Mountains of Altai]] as an important environmental treasure. It provides a habitat for many of the world's endangered species including one of its least studied predatory animals: the [[snow leopard]]. Other endangered species protected there include the [[Argali|argali mountain sheep]], the [[steppe eagle]], and the [[black stork]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://forests.org/archive/europe/sibsnowl.htm |title=Protect Snow Leopard Habitat / Siberia |publisher=forests.org |accessdate=2007-07-31 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20070927210043/http://forests.org/archive/europe/sibsnowl.htm  |archivedate = 2007-09-27}}</ref> Currently the Ukok Plateau is being threatened by plans for a [[Altai gas pipeline|gas pipeline between China and Russia]]. It is also being threatened by a proposal to build a road through it as well as overuse of the [[steppe]] by ranchers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pacificenvironment.org/article.php?list=type&type=83 |title=Altai: Saving the Pearl of Siberia
|accessdate=2006-11-30 }}</ref>
==Terminology==
The Mongolian word "uheg" - literally means "elongated cabinet", "box"; "Massive mountain" or big hill with a flat top. According to the oral testimony of S. Umurzakova "Ukok" in Kyrgyz used to refer to flat-topped mountains, ie plateaus.

==Geography==
The Ukok Plateau is the high-mountainous plain located between South-Altai and Sailugem and ridges at a height of {{convert|2200|–|2500|m|abbr=on}} above sea level. There are {{convert|500|-|600|m|abbr=on}} high mountain peaks that tower above the plateau. The highest peak on the plateau is the mountain knot of [[Tavan Bogd|Tavan-Bogdo-Ula]] (Five Sacred Peaks) where the highest mountain is [[Khüiten Peak]] that reaches {{convert|4374|m|abbr=on}} above sea level. This is the second highest peak in Siberia after Belukha Mountain.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ukok Plateau|url=http://www.altaidt.com/guidebook/place/11-ukok-plateau}}</ref> The present-day eastern Altai-Sayan region areas of Ukok-Sailiugem could be considered the closest analogy to the ancient [[mammoth steppe]] environment.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0085056|pmid=24454791|pmc=3890305 |title=Ecological Structure of Recent and Last Glacial Mammalian Faunas in Northern Eurasia: The Case of Altai-Sayan Refugium|journal=PLoS ONE|volume=9|issue=1|pages=e85056|year=2014|last1=Pavelková Řičánková|first1=Věra|last2=Robovský|first2=Jan|last3=Riegert|first3=Jan}}</ref>

==History==
[[Pazyryk culture|Pazyryk]] is the name given by modern scholars to an ancient people who lived in the [[Altai Mountains]] on this plateau who are associated with some spectacular archeological findings, including mummies found frozen in the [[permafrost]]. Many ancient [[Bronze Age]] tomb mounds have been found in the area and have been associated with the [[Pazyryk culture]] which closely resembled that of the legendary [[Scythia]]n people to the west.<ref name="atlas">{{cite book
| first=Paul G.
| last= Bahn
| year=2000
| title=The Atlas of World Geology
| edition=
| publisher=Checkmark Books
| location=New York
| isbn= 0-8160-4051-6
| page= 128}}</ref> The term ''[[kurgen]]'' is in general usage to describe such log-barrow burials. Excavations of this site have continued to yield notable archaeological finds.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/768
|title=Golden Mountains of Altai
|publisher=UNESCO
|accessdate=2007-07-31
}}
</ref> One famous finding is known as the [[Siberian Ice Maiden|Ice Maiden]], excavated by Russian archaeologist [[Natalia Polosmak]].<ref name="nova">{{cite web
|url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/2517siberian.html
|title=Ice Mummies: Siberian Ice Maiden
|publisher=PBS - NOVA
|accessdate=2007-07-31
}}
</ref><ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/html_En/03/hm3_2_7.html
|title=Prehistoric Art - Early Nomads of the Altaic Region
|publisher=The Hermitage Museum
|accessdate=2007-07-31
}}
</ref> At least six tattooed mummies dating from the period ca. (c. 2600 BC - AD 402) have been recovered preserved by the permafrost in tombs at sites on the Ukok Plateau including Temrta III, Primorsky I, Ak-Alakha 3, Verkh-Kaldzhin 2, and the Pazyryk burial ground.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Deter-Wolf|first1=Aaron|last2=Robitaille|first2=Benoît|last3=Krutak|first3=Lars|last4=Galliot|first4=Sébastien|title=The World's Oldest Tattoos|journal=Journal of Archaeological Science:Reports|date=February 2016|volume=5|pages=19–24|doi=10.1016/j.jasrep.2015.11.007}}</ref>
The [[Siberian Ice Maiden|Ice Maiden]] and other archaeological finds were located just within a disputed strip of land between Russia and China.<ref>{{cite web
|author=Leigh Fenly
|date=December 8, 2004
|url=http://www.archaeologynews.org/link.asp?ID=19703&Title=THREADS%20of%20old
|title=Archaeology News
|publisher=
|accessdate=2007-11-27
}}
</ref> The residents of the [[Altai Republic]] are demanding the return of the burial artifacts from their current location in [[Novosibirsk]].<ref>{{cite web
|date=February 21, 2005
|url=http://english.pravda.ru/science/19/94/377/14995_mummy.html
|title=Minor nationality of Russia demands the return of "Princess of Ukok"
|publisher=Pravda
|accessdate=2007-11-27
}}
</ref>

== Transport ==
[[File:Mountain pass teplyi kljuch august 2012.jpg|thumb|Mountain pass Teplyi kluch, August 2012]]
The Ukok plateau is linked to the outside world by heavy-going dirt roads through the Ukok ([[Kazakhstan–Russia border|Russia-Kazakhstan border]]), Ulan-Daba ([[Mongolia–Russia border|Russia-Mongolia border]]), Teplyi kluch and Kalgutinsky passes. The Teplyi kluch pass is at an altitude of {{convert|2,907|m|abbr=on}}. One may get to these passes from Kosh-Agach village, which is easily reachable owing to a relatively improved [[M52 highway (Russia)|M52 highway]] (the so-called Chuysky tract).

Southward, beyond Kosh-Agach, the way becomes impassable for common means of transport and passable only for [[off-road vehicle]]s. However, even they could become stuck in swamp mud in the Kalguty [[River valleys|river valley]], especially after a sunny day when frozen soil begins thawing. For most of the year the passes are snow-covered and avalanche-prone. During the short summer season all the slopes are prone to [[solifluction]].

==Notes==
<references/>

==References==
*S.I. Rudenko, ''Kul'tura naseleniia Gornogo Altaia v skifskoe vremia'' ("The Population of the High Altai in Scythian Times")(Moscow and Leningrad, 1953) translated as ''Frozen Tombs of Siberia: The Pazyryk Burials of Iron Age Horsemen'', M.W. Thompson, tr. (University of California Press, Berkeley) 1970. ISBN 0-520-01395-6

==External links==
{{commons category|Ukok Plateau}}
* [http://altai-photo.ru/photo/21 Photos of Ukok Plateau] - Altai-Photo
* [http://www.pacificenvironment.org/article.php?id=934 Greater Altai – Altai Krai, Republic of Altai, Tyva (Tuva), and Novosibirsk]
* [http://en.rian.ru/russia/20060705/50926770.html Gas pipeline route in south Siberia to be approved in August]
* [http://www.mmedia.nsu.ru/museum/Data/obj543/ENGLISH_INTERFACE_COLLECTION2.htm A collection at Novosibirsk State University site, including Pazyryk]
* [http://your-photography.com/blog/life-in-ukok-plateau/ Life in Ukok Plateau photostory]

{{coord|49.3078|N|87.5947|E|source:ruwiki_region:RU_type:mountain|format=dms|display=title}}

[[Category:Archaeological sites in Siberia]]
[[Category:Archaeology of Siberia]]
[[Category:Prehistoric sites in Russia]]
[[Category:Plateaus of Asia]]
[[Category:Altai Mountains]]
[[Category:Nomadic groups in Eurasia]]
[[Category:Landforms of the Altai Republic]]
[[Category:Plateaus of Russia]]

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Ukok Plateau - Revision history

Moderator: 1 revision

Russian Rocky: removed Category:Landforms of Altai Republic; added Category:Landforms of the Altai Republic using HotCat