A unique cross from Kainsk necropolis: iconography, semantics, and manufacturing technique

In 2019-2020, the Department of Rescue Archaeological Works at IAE ofthe SB RAS investigated the cultural layer in the Spassky Cathedral in Kainsk (presently Kuibyshev in Novosibirsk Region). A necropolis of an earlier period was discovered on its territory. A part of it was damaged during construction works of the stone cathedral. A distinctive feature ofthe funeral rite was presence of brick crypts inside the building of the cathedral, which indicates high status of the buried persons. One person was buried in the first brick crypt of the closed type. The burial inventory included a unique pectoral cross with no direct parallels. The cross is two-sided; it has a large number of scenes located on the entire surface. The central image on the front side is the Crucifixion of Christ. The scene of the Flagellation of Christ is on the back below. Images of saints are on both sides of the cross. This article presents the results of spectrographic analysis ofthe cross and provides its morphological and iconographic description. The XRF analysis was done in two laboratories (Equipment Sharing Center “Cenozoic Geochronology” and museum at the Institute of Geology and Mineralogy of the SB RAS). The elemental composition of the object was obtained from ten selected points. Basic composition of the alloy has been established; assumptions have been proposed concerning main methods of decoration. It has been discovered that the cross was made of about 80% of silver; the central scene of the Crucifixion was made of alloy containing silver and up to 68% of copper. It could have been decorated using the method of copper plating - coating metal with a thin layer of copper. The cross was decorated with silver foil, on which gold coating was applied as an amalgam, which is indicated by the presence of mercury in these areas. The cross can be dated to the second half of the 18th century, since the crypt is blocked by later burials and foundations of the stone cathedral whose construction began in the 1780s. The cross and funeral rite indicate high social and property status of the buried person. It is clear that the cross was made in Central Russia by a professional jeweler.