Encolpion crosses from finds at the Vodyanskoe settlement

The subject of the study is the bronze encolpion crosses found at the Vodyanskoe settlement, an urban culture monument of the Golden Horde era. Material and spiritual culture of the Russian Golden Horde urban population of the 14th century is the object under study of this paper. The author analyzes personal godliness practice items of the Russian cult copper sculpture connected with spread of Christianity. The encolpions under study and their fragments were found during archaeological excavations and artefactual remains collection at Vodyanskoye settlement at different times. The aim of the study is introduction into scholarly discourse, morphological description, typological and technological characterization of these finds from the Vodyanskoe settlement. Methods and approaches used in the study include description, typological analysis, metrical approach and measurement agenda used in staurometry, system approach including morphological analysis, chemical and technological Energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDXA). A comparison of the investigated material with the known encolpion crosses is performed. The research shows that the encolpions including their ornaments of leafs and parts discovered at the Vodyanskoe settlement are complete analogues in composition and iconography to the types of the encolpions found in the mediaeval Russian sites as well as in the other Golden Horde settlements. They can be attributed to the most numerous late Russian cross group dating back to no earlier than 13th century. Electron microprobe analysis (EMPA) of the two leafs showed that they were made up of leaded tin bronze with composition corresponding to the alloys used in Russia for encolpion casting. Winged crosses were cast into clay molds created from an impression of the finished product. The studied artifacts were interpreted in the context of the known data; they complement a handful of similar sample of items specific to the Russian population spiritual life in the 14th century. These bronze encolpion crosses are of different types the fact testifies to stylistic trends diversity in the mediaeval cult copper sculpture production of this period.