A basalt plateau the size of Britain north of the Arctic Circle, cut by canyons and waterfalls, among them the highest in Russia. The nearest road is hundreds of kilometres away; access is by helicopter or water. The Evenks held the plateau to be the dwelling of the fire deity Khosedem and did not settle on it. It was formed by the Siberian Traps eruptions, linked to the Permian extinction — the largest in the planet's history.