Desire, Fear, and Cultural Heritage: Treasure-Hunting Narratives Between Attraction and Restraint in Northeastern Anatolia

This article examines how treasure-hunting narratives shape local perceptions of cultural heritage in Northeastern Anatolia, Türkiye, from sociological and folkloric perspectives. The study is based on semi-structured interviews with 51 male participants from nine provinces in the region. The data were analyzed through qualitative content analysis. The article argues that treasure-hunting narratives generate a broader world of meaning that cannot be explained solely in terms of economic gain or legal violation. Six themes were identified: spiritual guardians, symbolic signs, risk and curse narratives, ritual protection practices, the regional circulation of legends, and masculinity-based access to hidden knowledge. The findings show that motifs such as jinn, snakes, signs, and success stories code heritage sites as places of hidden wealth, whereas curse, illness, death, traps, and supernatural punishment generate a symbolic regime of fear that may discourage intervention. The article highlights the paradoxical role of treasure-hunting folklore in encouraging illicit intervention while also producing symbolic restraints that may discourage it, and argues that heritage protection policies should take local narratives and popular beliefs more seriously.