Title: Religious symbolic attributes of the Russian north in the system of cultural values of the gizhigin people (XIX — early XX centuries)
Abstract: The article introduces into scientific circulation the data of the analysis of artifacts obtained as a result of the study by the Gizhiginsky archaeological expedition in 2020 of the first city on the territory of the Magadan region — Gizhiginsk. These are two shrine crosses, a statue of the Blessed Virgin, fragments of icon salaries, as well as an icon of the "Vladimirskaya Bogomater" from the funds of the Magadan Regional Museum of Local Lore. The use of multicomponent and binary brass and silver in the manufacture was determined by studying the composition of the metal alloy of objects from the archaeological collection using nondestructive X-ray fluorescence (XFA) analysis. The use of a galvanic method of applying gold to artifacts has been established. The crosses are made in an artisanal way. They could be used both in the performance of ritual sacraments and together with the figure of the Blessed Virgin figure to be part of the composition «Calvary with the upcoming». The objects clearly demonstrate the attributes associated with the practice of religious cults on the far outskirts of Russia and confirm the spread of not only Synodal, but also Old Believer Orthodoxy in the territory of Gizhiginsk in the XIX — early XX centuries. Probably, as a result of the shortage of objects of worship, copying/adapting of religious attributes of other confessional trends to the needs of old believers took place. The peaceful co-existence of representatives of different faiths is assumed on the local territory of the trading city. In the conditions of atheistic propaganda in the 1920s and 1930-s, objects of religious purpose were preserved by the local population and passed down from generation to generation. Keywords: North of the Russian Far East, Gizhiginsk, Gizhiginsk Orthodox Church, Old Believers, cross, icon of Vladimir's Mother of God, Holy Theotokos, koruna, missionary activity, X-ray fluorescence analysis