Crimean Mountains


The Crimean Mountains or the Yayla Mountains are a range of mountains running parallel to the south-eastern coast of Crimea, between about from the sea. Toward the west, the mountains drop steeply to the Black Sea, and to the east, they change slowly into a steppe landscape.

Subranges

The Crimean Mountains consist of three subranges. The highest is the Main Range, which is subdivided into several yaylas or mountain plateaus. They are:

Highest peaks

Crimea's highest peak is the Roman-Kosh on the Babugan Yayla at. Other important peaks over 1,200 metres include:
  • Demir-Kapu 1,540 m in the Babugan Yayla;
  • Zeytin-Kosh 1,537 m in the Babugan Yayla;
  • Kemal-Egerek 1,529 m in the Babugan Yayla;
  • Eklizi-Burun 1,527 m in the Chatyrdag Yayla;
  • Lapata 1,406 m in the Yaltynska Yayla, Yalta Yaylası;
  • Northern Demirji 1,356 m in the Demirci Yayla;
  • Ai-Petri 1,234 m in the Ay Petri Yaylası.

Passes and rivers

The passes over the Crimean Mountains are :
Rivers of the Crimean Mountains include the Alma River, Chernaya River, and Salhir River on the northern slope and Uchan-su River on the southern slope which forms the Uchan-su waterfall, and the highest waterfall in Crimea.

History

Archaeologists have found the earliest anatomically modern humans in Europe in the Crimean Mountains' Buran-Kaya caves. The fossils are 32,000 years old, with the artifacts linked to the Gravettian culture. The fossils have cut marks suggesting a post-mortem defleshing ritual.