Russian scientists have studied ancient encolpion – crosses embedded in them Christian relics XII – XIII centuries. With the help of neutron tomography and infrared spectroscopy, they managed to learn the contents of rare artifacts.
For the study were taken 14 closed encolpion found in the vicinity of Novgorod, Suzdal and Yuriev.
According to the Director of the Institute of archaeology Russian Academy of Sciences, academician Nikolai Makarov, scientists have long been interested in the contents of encolpions and it was assumed that the cross could be relics of martyrs, and items related to places of their lives.
– However, after research it turned out that everything is much more complicated. We found remnants of bone, but this does not mean that the absence of relics – a deviation from some normative practices, – said the academician.
the result was that the crosses represent products manufactured for the mass market: from inexpensive materials and large series. Among attachment researchers have found incense, a mixture of wax and incense, fragments of linen, silk and hemp fabrics, and human hair wrapped in cloth of goat hair. In one of the crosses preserved particles of pine and resin, wrapped in linen cloth. In another – I kept a plant that could not be identified.
