The

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have aris ...

Sunduki is a

natural Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the laws, elements and phenomena of the physical world, including life. Although humans are part ...

and historical monument of local significance in the Ordzhonikidzevsky and Shirinsky districts of the

Republic of Khakassia A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a state in which political power rests with the public (people), typically through their representatives—in contrast to a monarchy. Although a ...

, Russia. Since June 18, 2011, the Sunduki museum has been operating on the territory of the mountain range.

Etymology

; . ;

Khakas The Khakas are a Turkic indigenous people of Siberia, who live in the republic of Khakassia, Russia. They speak the Khakas language. The Khakhassian people are direct descendants of various ancient cultures that have inhabited southern Siberia ...

: ''Онло Tағ'', romanized: ''Onlo Takh (Onlo Tag)'', lit. 'Onlo Mountain'

Description

The mountain range has a total area of 2100 hectares, stretching from south to north. It is the foothills continuation of the Efremkinsky ridge of the spurs of the

Kuznetsk Alatau Kuznetsk Alatau () is a mountain range in southern Siberia, Russia. The range rises in the Altai-Sayan region of the South Siberian Mountains, northwest of Mongolia. The Siberian Railway skirts the northern limit of the range. Geography ...

in the valley of the Bely Iyus river. The ridge consists of five separate mountain-remnants or

butte In geomorphology, a butte ( ) is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and table (landform), tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from the French l ...

s up to 200 meters high. The ridge got its name from the northernmost mountain, on top of which there is a rock in the form of a

parallelepiped In geometry, a parallelepiped is a three-dimensional figure formed by six parallelograms (the term ''rhomboid'' is also sometimes used with this meaning). By analogy, it relates to a parallelogram just as a cube relates to a square. Three equiva ...

, which resembles a

chest The thorax (: thoraces or thoraxes) or chest is a part of the anatomy of mammals and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main di ...

. The mountains themselves received the corresponding serial numbers: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th Sunduki. The

is composed of red

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a period (geology), geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era during the Phanerozoic eon (geology), eon, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the preceding Silurian per ...

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

of a characteristic red-brown color, hence its

name ''Khyzyl-khaya'' (Red-Rock). The Sunduki mountains are characterized by a sharp asymmetry: the eastern slope at the top is very steep, while the western slope gently descends into the valley. Sometimes four more mountains are attributed to the Sunduki, south of the channel of the Bely Iyus river: ''Abyyakh-khaya'' (Brotherly rock), ''Krest-khaya'' (Cross rock), ''Orta-khaya'' (Middle rock), ''Uzun-khaya'' (Long rock). These are the 6th to 9th Sundiki, respectively. All mountains in the range are quite low and accessible for climbing. From the top of the Sunduki you can see the surrounding low mountain ranges, neighboring Sunduki and open view of the ancient irrigation canals (1st millennium BC) in the Bely Iyus river valley.

Nature

The Sundiki are a protected area of the Russian Federation. The status of protected areas was determined by the decision of the Khakass regional executive committee dated July 21, 1988 No. 164. Under protection are: various variants of phytocenoses, preserved virgin areas of the

steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without closed forests except near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the tropical and subtropica ...

s, habitats of valuable, rare and endemic plants (
Bupleúrum scorzonerifólium
' ( lat.), '' Panzerina lanata (L.)'', '' Large-flowered slipper'', '' Dryas'', etc.) and the habitat of rare bird species (''

Peregrine falcon The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known simply as the peregrine, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (raptor) in the family (biology), family Falconidae renowned for its speed. A large, Corvus (genus), cro ...

'', ''

Saker falcon The saker falcon (Falco cherrug) is a large falcon species. It breeds from Central Europe eastwards across the Palearctic to Manchuria. It is a partial migrant, which means that some part of the population is migratory, some part is not. In Eur ...

'', ''

Lesser kestrel The lesser kestrel (''Falco naumanni'') is a small falcon. This species breeds from the Mediterranean across Afghanistan and Central Asia, to China and Mongolia. It is a summer bird migration, migrant, wintering in Africa and Pakistan and someti ...

'', ''

Eastern imperial eagle The eastern imperial eagle (''Aquila heliaca'') is a large bird of prey that breeds in southeastern Europe and extensively through West and Central Asia. Most populations are migratory and winter in northeastern Africa, the Middle East and South a ...

'', ''

Horned owl The Americas, American (North and South America) horned owls and the Old World eagle-owls make up the genus ''Bubo'', at least as traditionally described. The genus name ''Bubo'' is Latin for owl. This genus contains 10 species that are found i ...

'', ''

Steppe eagle The steppe eagle (''Aquila nipalensis'') is a large bird of prey. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. The steppe eagle's well-feathered legs illustrate it to be a member of the subfamily Aquilinae, also known as the "booted ...

'').

History

Historical sites associated with ancient human settlements,

petroglyph A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

s or ''pisanitsas'' of

Tagar culture The Tagar culture was a Bronze Age Saka archeological culture which flourished between the 8th and 1st centuries BC in South Siberia (Republic of Khakassia, southern part of Krasnoyarsk Territory, eastern part of Kemerovo Province). The cultur ...

tamga A tamga or tamgha (from ) was an abstract seal or brand used by Eurasian nomads initially as a livestock branding, and by cultures influenced by them. The tamga was used as a livestock branding for a particular tribe, clan or family. They wer ...

-petroglyphs, cultural and historical complexes, burial mounds, ancient burials, etc. The fortress (

khak KHAK (98.1 FM) is a radio station that broadcasts a country music format to the Cedar Rapids-Iowa City, Iowa area. Licensed to Cedar Rapids, the station is currently owned by Townsquare Media. KHAK's studios are located in the Alliant Energy Bu ...

.) ''Sve'' on mountain ''Tағ'' ''Onlo'' (1st Sunduk) is a small fortified area on several rocky ridges separated by deep logs. The stone wall runs along the western edge of the foot of mountain ''Onlo''. Encircling the mountain, it rises up the slope to the rocky terraces, blocking the entrance to the mountain canyon in the most vulnerable place. The wall is a stone and earth rampart, best preserved in the central part. In the embankment flattened from above, turfed stones are visible everywhere, in some places there are vertical slabs on the outside. A fairly large fortification was probably used as a shelter for the population and livestock during hostilities. ''Sve'' on mountain ''Onlo'' is, apparently, part of the system of defensive structures in the valley of the Bely Iyus river. (

.) ''Sve Onlo'' fortress is located on the western bank of the river. On the east coast, 10 kilometers north of ''Onlo'', there is the (

.) ''Sve Tarpig'' fortress. Today, the ruins of such ancient structures bear little resemblance to fortress walls and can be confused with the natural collapse of stones. Due to the poor study and the almost complete absence of dating finds, until recently, many scientists considered such structures to be medieval Kyrgyz or Mongolian fortresses-shelters, in which people temporarily took refuge from attacks, even calling them "ancient Tatar mountain fortresses".
According to legend, the fortification on mount ''Onlo'' was built by the Teleut prince Silig ool Chaizan. Probably built in the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

, the fortification functioned until the Middle Ages. It is also possible that during the period of the Kyrgyz state (VI-XIII centuries), the ancient wall was restored or even partially rebuilt, which was reflected in folk tales. Interesting to notice that

heroic epic In poetry, an epic is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants. With regard to ...

tales of the

Yakuts The Yakuts or Sakha (, ; , ) are a Turkic ethnic group native to North Siberia, primarily the Republic of Sakha in the Russian Federation. They also inhabit some districts of the Krasnoyarsk Krai. They speak Yakut, which belongs to the Si ...

called ''Olonkho'', which resembles similarity with name of ''Onlo'' (1st Sunduk). There are many legends around the Sunduki. The mythical hero (

). ''Khoho-Babay'' is said to have lived there, guarding the sacred valley from uninvited guests for thousands of years, and hiding its riches in a giant forged chest (1st Sunduk). He was rich and greedy, collecting treasure and turned it into a huge gold ingot so as not to share it with anyone. However, he did not know that admiring gold for a long time alone leads to complete blindness. Blinded, the hero turned to the gods with a plea to restore his sight. They demanded a precious ingot in return. Khoho-Babay cheated and promised to give them anything for the returned vision, but he deceived the gods. For this, the gods turned him into a bird of prey, and his wealth into a stone chest on top of the mountain. Since then, the deceiver has been circling over the mountain range in the hope of gaining a human form. On the 1st Sunduk on mount ''Onlo'' there is a rock called "Seated King" or "

Shaman Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with the spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritual energies into ...

chair". It is unique in its acoustics, because even word spoken in a whisper, will be heard several hundred meters away. On 1st Sunduk there were also carved faces, the so-called face of a warrior and the face of a

shaman Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with the spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritual energies into ...

. Interesting to notice description of the typical performances example of

Yakut Yakut or Yakutian may refer to: * Yakuts, the Turkic peoples indigenous to the Sakha Republic * Yakut language, a Turkic language * Yakut scripts, Scripts used to write the Yakut language * Yakut (name) * Yakut Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic ...

in action: There are known 12 carved stones in shape of chests with name ''Onlo'' in Khakassia and 8 of them are located on the tops of the mountains. 5 ''Onlo'' chests are made of white stone (

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The Atom, atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen Tetrahedral molecular geometry, tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tet ...

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

) and stand in areas where there is no outlet for these rocks nearby. Local people traditionally attributed ''Onlo'' stones to the legendary

Chud Chud or Chude (, , ) is a term historically applied in the early East Slavic annals to several Baltic Finnic peoples in the area of what is now Estonia, Karelia and Northwestern Russia. It has also been used to refer to other Finno-Ugric peo ...

people. On 4th Sunduk there are group of

s or (

rus Rus or RUS may refer to: People * East Slavic historical peoples (). See Names of Rus', Russia and Ruthenia ** Rus' people, the people of Rus' ** Rus, a legendary eponymous ancestor, see Lech, Czech and Rus * Rus (surname), a surname found in Ro ...

) Pisanitsa carved more than two thousand years ago. These petroglyphs are a kind of the Tagar heroic epic, they show not only the difficult earthly path of the hero, but also the other world where he ends up after being killed by an enemy lurking in ambush, depicted in the lower part of the stone slab. On the 5th southernmost Sunduk there is the "Temple of Time", which is a kind of measuring device. It represents a carved niche in which there is a

sundial A sundial is a horology, horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the position of the Sun, apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the ...

in the form of a Dragon, cut into six parts. It is not yet known how the ancient people were using it. Some believe that the Temple of Time is the oldest astronomical

observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysics, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. Th ...

. At the foot of the 5th Sunduk, there is a large group of burial grounds.
However, after the work of archaeologists, it became clear that many ''Sve'', including ''Sve Onlo'', were built not a thousand, but about 4 thousand years ago. Basically, they appeared in the Okunev era (mid-

2nd millennium BC File:2nd millennium BC montage.jpg, 400x400px, From top left clockwise: Hammurabi, Babylonian king, best known for his Code of Hammurabi, code of laws; The gold Mask of Tutankhamun, funerary mask of Tutankhamun has become a symbol of ancient Egypt ...

). According to Gottlieb A., head of the KSU archaeological laboratory, which carried out a large-scale study of similar mountain structures in 1988, including ''Sve Onlo'', "archaeological excavations convincingly confirm the existence of ''Sve'' even in the Early

. Ceramics of this time are important evidence". Larichev V.E. greatly contributed to the study and popularization of the Sunduki range. He was the author of numerous scientific and popular science books, in particular on

archaeoastronomy Archaeoastronomy (also spelled archeoastronomy) is the interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary study of how people in the past "have understood the phenomena in the sky, how they used these phenomena and what role the sky played in their cultur ...

: interpretations of cultural monuments of ancient people. According to the researcher, ''Sve Onlo'' (1st Sunduk, Saratsky Sunduk) was a sacred place from which we can learn about its creators' idea of the structure of the universe. He claims it represents an astrological sanctuary, including a priestly temple and an ancient observatory.

References

{{reflist

Sources

Printed sources * State report "On the state of the natural environment of the Republic of Khakassia in 1998" (The same, 1999, 2000, 2001). * Encyclopedia of the Republic of Khakassia: n 2 volumes/ Government of the Rep. Khakassia; cientific-ed. Council.: V. A. Kuzmin (prev.) and others - Abakan: Polikor, 2007. Vol. 1: - H - 2007. - 430, p. : ill., portr. — Bibliographer. at the end of words. Art. S. 150. Web-sources
Samoilova G.S., et al. KHAKASIA // Great Russian Encyclopedia. Electronic version (2020)
Retrieved: 25.02.2022
Kuzminykh S. V. TAGAR CULTURE // Great Russian Encyclopedia. Electronic version (2017)
Retrieved: 25.02.2022 Mountain ranges of Russia Rock formations of Russia Mountains under 1000 metres Natural history of Siberia Protected areas of Siberia Landforms of Khakassia Upper Paleolithic sites Archaeological sites in Siberia Archaeological cultures of Siberia Scytho-Siberian world Prehistoric sites in Russia Archaeoastronomy Yeniseian languages Rock art in Asia Open-air museums in Russia

Etymology

Description

Nature

History

See also

References

Sources