Paper short abstract:

I analyze the conflict around archaeological excavations between the authorities of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania and Ossetian religious nationalists. These excavations were used by local religious traditionalists to gain public support for their movement.

Paper long abstract:

In the fall of 2020, excavations of a medieval burial ground, located next to an ancient chapel, began in the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania. These studies were were initiated by the local diocese and sanctioned by the authorities of the republic, but caused indignation among a number of Ossetian religious nationalists. These excavations were used by local religious leaders in their confrontation with the representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church to gain public support for their movement as the only real Ossetian religion. One of the arguments of local traditionalists was the lack of permission to excavate from the people buried in this old cemetery, whose religious identity may be misrepresented by archaeologists. The presentation analyzes the ideas about the agency of the dead, the commemorational community of the Church and the ethnic community of Ossetians in the dispute over who owns the past of Ossetia. The offended religious feelings of our contemporaries were combined with the reconstructed experiences of their ancestors and recoded into them.