At the site of future construction in Novgorod, archaeologists have gathered a rich crop

The Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences reported the results of extraordinary excavations in Veliky Novgorod. Since the fall of last year, the Novgorod expedition of the institute began rescue excavations on the corner of the Kozmodemyanskaya and Tikhvin streets, where the construction of a new building was planned.

Personnel found in the Kozmodemyansky excavation

“The thickness of the cultural layer that we opened at this place reached 3.5 meters, it began to form here in the 10th century,” says Peter Gaidukov, head of the Novgorod expedition, deputy director of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In the area of ​​the excavation were the pavement of the ancient Kozmodemyanskaya street, in which archaeologists counted 19 log layers from the XI to the 15th century, and parts of two large estates. As a result, scientists discovered more than two thousand subjects, including 14 birch bark letters, lead seals, Arabic, Western European and Byzantine coins. The work on the excavation was led by a researcher at the IA RAS Oleg Oleinikov. The texts of the birch bark letters are read by the Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Andrei Zaliznyak and the corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexei Hippius.

You can learn about the life of the inhabitants of the estates from the texts of birch bark letters. For example, a letter that received number 1072 contains a list of lenderers and amounts due to them. At the end of the document, the total amount in the “hryvnias of the spools” and “hryvnias of silver” is calculated. The term "hryvnia of Zolotnikov" met a scientist for the first time. Previously, the word "spool" was noted only as the name of the weight of weight, but not a monetary unit. The letter 1077, found in early April, contains the text of the will, according to which the son of the testator must receive debts from several persons. Among the debts there are money, but basically it is rye or oats, and in rather large volumes. One of the mentioned people was supposed to five and a half “boxes” (the box was more than a hundred kilograms of grain).

Certificate with the inscription "I am a puppy"

On one of the birch bark beings found by scientists, only “I am a puppy” are written, and in the upper and lower part of the birch bark there are small openings for fastening. “Maybe this inscription really wore a puppy on himself, or maybe this piece of birch bark was used in the game or for a joke,” said Peter Gaidukov. Another brief letter (1073, XIII century) is similar to modern SMS messages: “From Gavrila to Kondrat. Come here "

Half of the Golden Byzantine coin found in Novgorod (above) compared to a similar coin from the meeting

Among the coins discovered during the excavations of coins there is an Arab silver dirham of the 9th century, six silver coins of the XI century from Northern Germany, but the most important find was half of the Byzantine Golden Solid, minted during the reign of Emperor Roman III (1028–1034). 11 lead seals were found, which were used in Novgorod to confirm the authenticity of documents. Among them there are princely seals of the 12th century, the state seals of Veliky Novgorod of the XIV - XV centuries, as well as the press of Novgorod archbishops and their governors of the XIV century. Also, archaeologists have found many household guns and jewelry: pitchfork, scissors, knives, axes, nails, copies of copies, underwear crosses, bracelets, rings, stakes, earrings, buckles, crests and leather plaques with embossing.