ARTIFACTS WITH CHRISTIAN SYMBOLS. THE EARLY STAGE OF THE CHRISTIANIZATION OF THE EUROPEAN NORTH-EAST

The article deals with the collection of artifacts (jewelry, household items) in the form of Christian symbols or with images of Christian symbols obtained during the study of archaeological sites of the Middle Ages in the European North-East. All items date back to the 12th and 13th centuries and are kept in the funds of the Museum of Archaeology of the Komi Scientific Center ILLH. The publication defines the typological and chronological composition of the collection of 38 items, and provides analogies with the excavations in the European northeast and other archaeological sites of Russia. The artifacts are of great scientific interest for the study of historical and cultural processes that took place in the north and north-east of Europe at the beginning of the 2nd millennium AD. The initial stage of distribution of products with Christian symbols can be divided into two sub-stages: 1. First half of the 12th century. Finds of coin-shaped pendants with the image of a cross. 2. Second half of the 12th - early 14th century. Various types of pendants with images of a cross, household items with images of crosses. Wearable crosses and icons appear. The finds of these artifacts indicate the familiarity of the population with the traditions of Christianity. These archaeological finds suggest the spread of Christian ideas to the European North-East at an earlier time - dating back to the 12th and 13th centuries. The Christianization of the region (as a historical process) begins with the Old Russian colonization at the beginning of the 12th century. The finds of objects of Christian worship testify to the familiarity of the population with Christian culture, and indicate contacts with the territory for which this culture was characteristic. The distribution of the objects with Christian symbols and ideas of Christianity was associated with the inhabitants of large settlements founded by settlers from the territory of Russia.