Kazakhstani archeology: in the shadows of soviet legacy and polity of nation-building

Abstract

The archeology of Kazakhstan is one of the most dynamic, if not the most publicly visible and dynamic anthropological sub-disciplines in this post-Soviet Central Asian country today. The Kazakhstani state and
elite pay a lot of attention to archeology through different programs and grants. However, I argue that: after becoming independent more than thirty years ago, Kazakhstani archeology still demonstrates a strong attachment to Russian archeology as with the former academic metropole, in some sense operates in many ways in the shadows of the Soviet legacy; archeology is still heavily dependent on state ideology or used
by it as a nation-building tool.