Activities of Looters in the Republic of Bashkortostan (According to Analysis of Internet Communities in 2018–2020)

ABSTRACT

In the last decade, the activities of looters have become increasingly widespread in Russia. For certain regions of a huge country, for example the Republic of Bashkortostan, this problem is of key importance. The analysis of various sources presented in this paper shows that the system of protection of archaeological sites in Russia is ineffective in counteracting looters. There are neither analytical materials nor scientific papers that objectively reflect their illegal activities in the information area. One of the most accessible sources for studying the activities of looters is virtual communities in social networks. Using a variety of software products and scientific techniques, subscribers and content of three communities of looters in the social network Vkontakte have been studied. This study concludes that social networks actively promote the practices of looters and develop effective methods and ways to avoid responsibility.

KEYWORDS:

• Looters
• looting
• ‘treasure hunters’
• destruction of archaeological sites
• Internet communities

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the framework of state task of R.G. Kuzeev Institute for Ethnological Studies – Subdivision of the Ufa Federal Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences ‘Cultural Integration of the Population of the Southern Urals in Antiquity, the Middle Ages and Modern Times: Factors, Dynamics, Models’.

Notes on contributors

Ainur Tuzbekov

Ainur Tuzbekov is an archaeologist, researcher, and Candidate of Historical Science in the Ufa Federal Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences. His research examines the interdisciplinary and human dimensions aspects of cultural heritage use and management.