Providensky District

Also known as Eunmon, Estikhet, and Estiget[18] and located about an hour from Provideniya, this site is a Yupik village first established in the 13th century and occupied through the 20th century.[15] It was located at the foot of East Head (Estikhet in Yupik) by Moore Lake (Nayvaq Estikhet Lagoon)[19] The site contains a number of yarangas as well as a "klegran"—a building used only by the men of the village.[15] The area is still a popular place with local people from Provideniya.[20] The site contains a cultural layer several meters deep and there are a number of abandoned underground dwellings.[21] In 1927, Avan was one of the largest Yupik whaling settlements and had a population of seventy-seven.[21] It was abolished in 1942.[19][21]

Also known as Kelkun,[21] this site is a Neolithic campsite located where the Chelkun and Ioniveyem Rivers meet.[15] It was first excavated in 1979.[15] The settlers of Chelkun were some of the founders of Novoye Chaplino.[20] In 1927, its population was twelve and it was under the administration of Kivaksky Selsoviet.[21]

This was a small settlement on the mainland of Chukotka, in the Gylmymyl Bay, facing Arakamchechen Island. In 1927, its population was twenty.[21] Gylmymyl served as the administrative center of a selsoviet, which extended over a number of other nearby rural localities, including Kalkhtyunay (population in 1927 – 28), Kelkun (population in 1927 – 19), Nutenut(population in 1927 – 26), and Epiliki (population in 1927 – 18).[21]

This is an ancient village, approximately 2000 years old, founded during the time of the Bering Sea culture.[15] Its name literally means "green glade" in Chukchi[15] and its inhabitants also were some of the founders of Novoye Chaplino.[20][21] In 1927, Kivak had a population of sixty-six, which grew to ninety-two by 1950.[21] Today, the remains of the village are being eroded by the sea, as well as being stripped by people living in the area.[21]

Pre-historic site. This is the only Eskimo village with underground dwellings located in a gorge secluded from the sea.[21]

Also known as Kurupkaq, Kurupkan, a small settlement inland of 69 people in 1927, that grew to 102 by 1943.[21] The inhabitants here spoke the Sirenik Eskimo language.[19]

Also known as Kenilgan,[21] Kyga,[22] and Kygynin[22] this site on the northeast coast of Arakamchechen Island, on Cape Kygynin, is linked with the Whale Bone Alley on Yttygran Island and consists of a series of whale bone columns pointing in the direction of Whale Bone Alley, two burial mounds, and a ring of boulders.[15] It is the southernmost settlement where the population engaged in hunting the Gray whale.[22] In 1927, it had a population of twenty-eight.[21] It is thought that Ekkr, the last east Chukotkan sea shaman, may have lived here in the 1940s.[21] This area contains a variety of settlements of different ages, indicating that the region had been inhabited for a considerable amount of time.[22] The exposed nature of the coast of Arakamchechen Island has led to considerable erosion, destroying much of the oldest remains, though the remains of abandoned subterranean houses and meat pits made of whale bones constructed to act as a sort of freezer can still be seen.[22]

Also called Masiq, Mechigment, and Agritkino,[21] Masik is the site of what was once a very sizable village, even by modern-day Chukotkan standards, stretching over a mile in length[15] and forming two large ovals in plan around two now dry lakes.[23] The site also contains a very large number of well-preserved structures including homes, yarangas, whale bone structures for drying boats, and storage facilities.[15] The village was populated from the 12th to the mid-20th century, although there is evidence to suggest that different parts of the settlement were inhabited at different times in its history.[15] The village was based on the southern spit at the entrance to Mechigmen Bay.[19][21] The village economy was driven mainly by the hunting of Bowhead and Grey Whales.[21]

This is a fortified site from the Mesolithic near Cape Chaplino consisting of the remains of a number of yarangas and a fortified settlement about 3 kilometers (1.9 mi) away at Guygungu.[15]

The name is derived from the word putulyk, meaning "meandering" in Yupik, and the place is an early-Holocene workshop site that was excavated in 1993.[15]

Rygnakhpak is a curious fortified settlement consisting of cells created from large boulders on the upper slopes of Mount Rygnakhpak, an old volcano.[15] In addition to the old cells, there is also a more modern structure, which is thought to date from the Cold War days, when local people would have had to man the station to keep a look out for invading armies.[15] Similar structures are found along the coast between this point and Enurmino.

Also known as Singhaq. Under the Soviet government several Eskimo families lived in Yarangas (reindeer skin tents) near the whalebone posts. A field of stone cairns/lay-outs was discovered, the field was surrounded by one row of stone wall. Judging by the remains of subterranean huts made of bones of young bowhead whales Sinrak used to be the biggest whaling village. The people of the village specialized in hunting bowhead whale calves. Krupnik thinks that the village was abandoned at the end of the 18th – beginning of the 19th century.[21]

Like Puturak, this is another early-Holocene site. Its name is derived from the Yupik word ulkhuk, meaning "hot springs". Ulkhum is a thermal spring site still used today by local people.[15] Though it has somewhat fallen into disrepair, it is said that the radon baths here have the power to help heal wounds and to cure skin ailments and lower back pain.[15]

Also known as Ungayiq, Chaplino, Unyyn, and Indian Point,[21] Unazik is another locality that provided the first inhabitants of Novoye Chaplino.[20] Its name is derived from the Yupik word for "bewhiskered". Unazik was inhabited until the mid-20th century prior to it being evacuated due to erosion by the sea,[21] and the buildings were pulled down in 1958–1960.[15] Prior to the evacuation, Unazik was a large village, even by modern-day Chukotkan standards, with a population of around five hundred and a reputation as an important local trading and whaling center.[15] In 1927, the population was 254, had increased to 296 in 1943, mainly due to the abandonment of the neighboring village of Tyfliak, further north up the coast,[21] though had fallen by 1950 to only 206.[21] Chaplino was the largest settlement in the area and was a focal point for trade with America in the pre-Soviet era, when it was known as Indian Point.[21]

Situated on the northern shore of Yttygran Island (from the Chukchi word etgyran, meaning "midway dwellings"), the Whale Bone Alley consists of a large number of carefully arranged whale skulls, whale bones and stones, along with a considerable number of meat storage pits.[15] It is thought that the Whale Bone Alley was used as a central shrine by a number of different villages dotted along the eastern Chukotkan coast.[24] It is also thought that the site was used for initiation rituals and for sporting contests,[24] although the local Yupik have a simpler explanation that the island was a collective center for the flensing, butchery, and storage of whale meat—an idea supported by the etymology of the Yupik name for Yttygran: Sikliuk, from siklyugak, meaning "meat pit" in Yupik.[15] There used to be a village nearby the main monumental location called Sikliuk (also known as Siqluk and Sekliuk).[21] In 1927, this village had a population of forty-five.[21] It was abolished in 1950.[19][21]

The site is monumental by Chukotkan standards when compared with other early settlements such as Uelen, Ekven, Sireniki, and Kivak, and consists of several lines of whale skulls and jaw bones along the shoreline, several large pits behind them, and a number of meat pits surrounding a central sanctuary and stone path around one third of the way along the site traveling from south to north.[23]

The site extends some 1,800 feet (550 m) along the northern coast of Yttygran Island[25] and lies on a major whale migration path.[24] It is thought that the site was chosen partly because of the ease by which local people could kill and butcher a whale and also as a place where people could come together and trade on neutral ground in a forerunner to the fairs held during the period of Cossack exploration of the region.[15]

There is no evidence of any monumental ritual center like this elsewhere in any other part of Eskimo lands, though there are sites along the Chukotkan coast where the whale skull motifs can be seen at sites such as Nykhsirak.[23]