Case file · Folklore / legend
The copper cauldron of the upper Vilyuy
Explorer Richard Maak, leading an 1853–55 Russian Geographical Society expedition, recorded a local tale of a great copper cauldron in the upper Vilyuy valley.
1853 CE · 63.69, 112.44 · status: legend
The account
Maak treated the story as folklore. In the late 20th century it was reworked into the 'Valley of Death' (Elyuyu Cherkechekh) legend of buried metal domes that sicken those who sleep in them.
The sceptical view
Maak himself presented it as a tale; no physical cauldron has ever been documented.