The Slavic population of the Russian North is geographically surrounded by historically established areas of settlement of peoples belonging to the Finno-Ugric language group, which includes the Baltic-Finnish, Sami, Volga and Perm subgroups, as well as the Nenets belonging to the Samoyedic group. In the north-west, the Russian-speaking region borders on the territories inhabited by the Sami (Lapps), Karelians, Finns, Izhora, and Veps; along the northern border there are Nenets nomads; along the eastern border there live (from north to south) Komi-Zyryans, Komi-Permyaks, and Udmurts; in the Middle and Lower Kama region, their territory merges with the ethnic the area of the Mari people (Cheremis). In the language and culture of the Russian population, a substratum complex can be traced back to the ancient interethnic contacts of Russians with the autochthonous population, which eventually dissolved into the Russian ethnic group. Russians have particularly strong cultural ties with the Komi, Karelians, and Veps, as well as with dispersed groups of Finno-Russian-speaking peoples outside the main area. These contacts contributed to the mutual enrichment of cultural traditions, including in the sphere of religious and mythological representations and ritual practices. Interethnic interaction, which spanned more than a thousand years in time, was so deep and versatile that today it is impossible to determine with reliable accuracy which elements of spiritual (often material) culture are "originally Russian" and which are borrowed by the Slavs from the peoples of the Finno-Ugric group (undoubtedly, there was a feedback). One of the most difficult problems is the extent of mutual influence in the sphere of mythology, and in particular in the field of sacred symbolism. The cross is one of the oldest sacred signs in the world's mytho-epic and religious systems; the main symbol of Christianity. Roadside, memorial, poklonnye, votive crosses had the status of local shrines (Bel ... Read more