ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТЬ «ЧЕРНЫХ КОПАТЕЛЕЙ» В РЕСПУБЛИКЕ БАШКОРТОСТАН (ПО ДАННЫМ АНАЛИЗА ИНТЕРНЕТ-СООБЩЕСТВ В 2020 Г.)

Abstract

The article describes the results of research on the activities of «treasure-hunters» in the Republic of Bashkortostan in 2020. The author of this article conducted an analysis of trial court decisions for 2017-2019, news publications, literature and reports of state authorities. As a result, it was found that the system of protection of archaeological sites in Russia is ineffective and cannot counteract «treasure-hunters». The information space almost does not contain analytical materials and scientific research works objectively reflecting treasure hunting activities. In most cases, archaeologists and state officials only record the consequences of unlawful search for «hidden treasures». In the author’s opinion, online communities are one of the most informative sources for studying the activities of treasure-hunters. The three most numerous regional groups of «treasure-hunters» with more than 1,000 subscribers were analyzed in the social network VK. The methods of netnography and the program products such as media-vk.ru and socstat.ru helped to reveal the statistically average portrait of community members, their cohesion and the quality of content. Content analysis made it possible to find out the most discussed topics, archaeological items and types of sites subject to regular looting and to assess the possibility of organizing either small or large groups of «treasure hunters» for joint search. According to the research carried out, the author concludes that there is an active propaganda for the treasure hunting activities in the social networks. The members of these groups discuss items obtained as a result of illegal search for «treasures», coordinate their efforts and hold conferences. The author thinks that effective counteractions against the treasure hunting activities necessitate the implementation of continuous monitoring and analysis of their online communities.