Abstract
Treasure Hunting Folklore
While people migrate from one place to another for a number of reasons, such as war, famine, religious conflicts it would be dangerous to carry valuable goods and money with them, so they buried them. When they buried these precious items, they made various ciphers, they made a few signs around the burial and they have drawn maps to remind them of their place. These treasures which can not received for various reasons, years later, “treasure hunters” people called began to sought. Treasure hunters pursued not only those buried treasures but also the goods that were put into the tombs, a tradition of death in ancient civilizations. Despite the law, illegal treasure hunting has not been avoided for many years. Treasure hunting is so common among the public that, it can be encountered with those who deal with treasure hunting in almost every settlement. This prevalence has led to the birth of many narratives with various beliefs and practices around the treasure hunt. In this study, treasure beliefs and practices; narratives about treasure hunting were evaluated in terms of folklore. At the end of the study, it has been determined that the beliefs and practices of the Turkish hunters are similar to those of the treasure hunters.
Keywords
Treasure hunting, Narratives, Beliefs, Rituals, Folklore.
