Sizes of children's, women's, and men's baptismal crosses of different types at the necropolis of Saint Nicholas church in the village of Krivoshchekovo, Novosibirsk

The sizes of baptismal crosses which have been frequently found in Orthodox necropoleis in Siberia greatly vary. It has been traditionally assumed that the size of baptismal cross depended on the age of the buried person. Such regularity was the case for previously examined necropoleis in the Middle Irtysh region and Novosibirsk Ob region (cemetery of the village of Izyuk and necropolis of the Umreva Ostrog). However, baptismal crosses of large sizes have also occurred in children's graves, while small baptismal crosses have been discovered in adults 'graves. Therefore, such regularity must have been of statistical nature. This phenomenon could have been caused by other facts, processes, or events of the past. This article aims at: 1) finding out whether there is any correlation between the ages of the buried persons and the size of their baptismal crosses; 2) identifying a correlation between the buried person's gender and size of his/her baptismal cross; 3) identifying a correlation between the type of baptismal cross, age, and gender of the buried person, and 4) identifying planigraphic regularities in distribution of baptismal crosses of specific size and type at the necropolis if they turn out to be related to the age of the buried person. The study has shown a certain correlation between the age of the buried persons and size of their baptismal crosses, while there was no correlation between the gender of the buried persons and size of their baptismal crosses, which was also the case for the cemeteries in the adjacent areas. The most common types of baptismal crosses were small-sized items typical of children's graves and large-sized crosses found in adults ' graves. Two types of baptismal crosses had relatively large sizes and were typical of only children's graves. The planigraphic analysis into locations of baptismal crosses of different sizes inside the graves ofpersons of different age has demonstrated that the graves under study were arranged in relatively dense groups, which suggests a complex set of traditional beliefs regarding the sizes and types of baptismal crosses in the past.