Grain-filigree cross-shaped pendants of the Permian Pre-Urals region

The jewelry heritage of the Rodanovo culture, the Western Urals, includes cross-shaped pendants with a silver plate as a base with a grain-filigree decoration. The article highlights the study results of these jewels. Collection, visual analysis, and study of sources with different methods allow for a detailed view about the design of items, their production specificity and decoration techniques, as well as about their origin and distribution period. The jewels were made of silver and decorated in various jewelry techniques as granulation and filigree, with inserts of ornamental stones and glass, embossed elements in form of semi-spheres, gilding. The identified stylistic and technological characteristics of the artefacts indicate that the jewelry pieces were made by local craftsmen. Almost all pendants are rather standard, few in number, produced not later than in the end XI-XII centuries.