САМОЦВЕТНЫЙ ПРОМЫСЕЛ НА УРАЛЕ: АНТРОПОЛОГИЧЕСКОЕ ИЗМЕРЕНИЕ

Abstract

The article presents the first results of a collective project aims at describing the phenomenon of artisanal gem mining in the Urals at the present time. The research is based on the use of a complex of field qualitative methods, the theoretical and conceptual context is the anthropology of precious minerals. The focus of the work is the Middle Urals community in one way or another “connected with stone”; first of all, those people for whom gem mining is a trade, a passion, a way of life. In the Urals, such people are called artisanal miners, hitniks, diggers, prospectors. The plots of the personal motives of gem hunters are considered; formation of the value of the mineral itself in the process of its interaction with humans. Over three and a half centuries the Ural gems have become one of the culture-forming features of the region and a special type of stone culture with its own patterns and logic of development has been constructed around the artisanal gem mining. Thanks to the distribution of activity space and “stone” specialization, the originality of this culture has been preserved to this day. The main problem that stone lovers face and which stands in the way of the revival of the historical craft is the unsettled legislation of the “stone” industry and the lack of legalization of individual craft.