Whale Bone Alley

Along about half a kilometre of the northern shore of Yttygran, an island some thirteen and a half kilometres long, stand rows of bowhead whale jawbones and skulls, set upright and grouped, with meat pits dug behind them and a stone circle inland. It was found in 1976 by a team from the Institute of Ethnography of the Soviet Academy of Sciences led by Mikhail Chlenov and is dated to the fourteenth to sixteenth century, the late phase of the Punuk culture. What it was for is not settled: the leading interpretation is a shared ceremonial and storage site where several Yupik communities came together for large-scale whale processing and ritual, at a period when hunting conditions changed. The bones have weathered and many have fallen. Reaching it means a boat across the Senyavin Strait in a border zone with permit requirements, usually on an expedition cruise or a chartered trip from Provideniya, and the weather in that strait decides whether a landing happens.

The main sights

• The standing bones - bowhead jawbones and skulls set upright along the shore.
• The meat pits - storage pits dug behind the bone rows.
• The open question - a purpose still argued over.
• The weathering - bones fallen and eroded since the site was recorded in 1976.

When to go

July to September, the only months boats operate. Two to three hours ashore if the landing happens.

What to expect

Chukotka is a border zone requiring permits arranged well in advance, and foreign visitors face extra requirements. Landings are cancelled by weather and swell with no notice. There is nothing at the site - no facilities, no shelter. Trips are expensive and usually part of a cruise.

Nearby

The Senyavin Strait hot springs and Provideniya are on the mainland side.