Crimean Mountains

The Crimean Mountains or Yayla Mountains /jaɪːlə/, /jeɪːlæ/ are a range of mountains running parallel to the south-eastern coast of Crimea, between about 8–13 km 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 (yayla or yaylak is Turkic for "alpine meadow"). They are:


 * Baydar yayla
 * Ai-Petri yayla
 * Yalta yayla
 * Nikita yayla
 * Hurzuf yayla
 * Babugan yayla
 * Chatyr-Dag yayla
 * Dologorukovskaya (Subatkan) yayla
 * Demirci yayla
 * Qarabiy yayla

Highest peaks
Crimea's highest peak is the Roman-Kosh on the Babugan Yayla at 1545 m. Other important peaks over 1,200 metres include:


 * Demir-Kapu (Демір-Капу, Демир-Капу, Demir Qapı) 1,540 m in the Babugan Yayla;
 * Zeytin-Kosh (Зейтин-Кош; Зейтин-Кош, Zeytün Qoş) 1,537 m in the Babugan Yayla;
 * Kemal-Egerek (Кемаль-Егерек, Кемаль-Эгерек, Kemal Egerek) 1,529 m in the Babugan Yayla;
 * Eklizi-Burun (Еклізі-Бурун, Эклизи-Бурун, Eklizi Burun) 1,527 m in the Chatyrdag Yayla;
 * Lapata (Лапата; Лапата, Lapata) 1,406 m in the Yaltynska Yayla, Yalta Yaylası;
 * Northern Demirji (Північний Демірджі, Северный Демирджи, Şimaliy Demirci) 1,356 m in the Demirci Yayla;
 * Ai-Petri (Ай-Петрі, Ай-Петри, Ay Petri) 1,234 m in the Ay Petri Yaylası.

Passes and rivers
The passes over the Crimean Mountains are (from east to west):


 * Angarskyi Pass (752m) near Perevalne, on a road from Alushta to Simferopol
 * Okhotnyche (1185m) near Ai-Petri mountain peak, on the road from Yalta to Bakhchysarai
 * Baydar Gate (503m) near Foros, connecting Baydar Valley and the sea coast
 * Laspi Pass (350m) near Cape Aya, on a road from Yalta to Sevastopol.

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.