ristripatsid eesti 12.–13. sajandi laibakalmistutes: kas ehted või usu tunnused? / the cross-shaped pendants of inhumation burials in 12th-13th century estonia: adornments or signs of belief?

Cross-shaped pendants are one of the most discussed symbolically laden artefacts among Estonian archaeological material. The beginning of the distribution of cross-shaped pendants dates back to 11th century when the artefacts, though scarce, appear. The number of such pendants increases noticeably at the very end of the Iron Age. Due to the ambiguous entity of cross and time context, cross-pendants have been interpreted either as symbols of Christian faith, as pieces of adornment not affiliated with Christianity, or as objects with magical qualities. In this paper I study pendants found in the inhumation cemeteries of Estonia. Only those provide us with an archaeological context which shows precisely who could have worn them and how. The analyzed cross-pendants were found at Pada, Kaberla, Kukruse, Haimre and Tammiku cemeteries and from the early burials in Viru-Nigula churchyard. As artefacts, the cross pendants are more or less stylized Greek crosses. In most cases the pendants were either used as a part of jewellery or worn singularly around the neck area. From the total of 48 analyzed cross-pendants one fourth could be interpreted as locally produced items. Of local origin are probably lead pendants from Pada cemetery, heads of decorative pins worn as cross-shaped pendants from Viru-Nigula and Kaberla cemeteries, and obvious scrap and unfinished pendant crosses. In addition, I would like to draw attention that cross-pendants from inhumation burials do not contain many widespread forms, such as ‘Scandinavian’ and some other widespread Russian origin types, which have been found in hoards, from hill-forts and cremation burials. This observation could confirm that cross pendants from 12th–13th century inhumation burials were communally recognized and some of them were locally manufactured. As the next stage of my investigation I studied different occurrence contexts of cross pendants in cemeteries and burials: the location of burials with cross-pendants in a cemetery, their orientation, grave goods, pendants with symbolic meaning and reference to other cross-symbolism. It appears that concerning general burial rituals, burials with cross-pendants do not differ from other contemporary burials. In the case of people being buried with crosses, family and/or community traditions may have been considered primary in the funeral rite. On an individual level it resulted in cross-pendants appearing in the graves of males, females or children; as a part of a necklace, as grave goods, etc.; either one or several. Finally, I took into account the data which I gained from contextual analyses and connected it with common interpretations. The research indicates that it is not reasonable to exclude interpretations in which crosses are seen only as adornments. After analyzing archaeological contexts, it appears that they probably had a symbolic meaning. The ambiguous nature of other interpretations made it difficult to connect them with archaeological evidence. Creating criteria in favour of one and/or another interpretation is artificial, because archaeological evidence from the inhumation burials is not univocally understandable. Burials with and without crosses do not differ considerably. Thus we should not interpret 12th–13th century inhumation burials through strict definitions; rather we should take into account a pluralistic world-view, enriched with multifarious symbolic language. Therefore, previously separated interpretations can be connected. The cross pendant could have a symbolic meaning and the definition of an amulet connects well with a Christian artefact of the Late Iron Age. For the owner it could have been both a symbol of Christianity and/or a good luck charm. In conclusion it seems that based on contextual analysis it is more likely that cross-shaped pendants were used as indicators of belief rather than just pieces of adornment. In addition it appears that the impulse for the appearance of cross-shaped pendants in inhumation burials in Estonia came from the general dissemination of these types of pendants in the period of Christianization, which motivated their distribution in Northern Europe.