Repatriation, doxa, and contested heritages: The return of the Altai Princess in an international perspective

Gertjan Plets, Nikita Konstantinov, Vasilii Soenov, Erick Robinson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Using Pierre Bourdieu's concepts of habitus and doxa, the authors analyze the contested heritage debates surrounding the sensational Scythian burial discovery of the Altai Princess, also called the Ice Maiden, on the Ukok plateau. Her 2012 repatriation to a special Gazprom-funded museum in the Altai Republic of Russia is politically contextualized and compared to cases of the Kennewick Man in the United States and the Lake Mungo Burials of Australia. The authors stress the importance of "heritage in the making" and conclude that diverse approaches to the Altai Princess must be understood through the historically constituted dispositions of various agents and their interaction with the structures governing society.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)73-98
Number of pages26
JournalAnthropology and Archeology of Eurasia
Volume52
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Oct 2013

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