28 March 2023 The Future is the Product of the Past

In Ryazan, the first birch bark letters were discovered

The first birch bark letters were found at the Vvedensky excavation site in the Kremlin in Pereyaslavl Ryazan (modern Ryazan).

The length of the letters is 8 cm, width – 2.5–3 cm. Two lower lines of the text have survived (the first upper line is partially cut off). The letters comes from the layers of the second half of the 15th century, from the territory of one of the properties in the western part of the excavation.

The hypothetical paleographic dating of the letter is 14th-15th-15th. at the turn of the century.

The Vvedensky excavation site is located in the southeastern part of the Kremlin, which, according to written sources, was developed later than the northwestern part, and was originally outside the city limits, i.e. it was actually a posad.

Thus, Pereyaslavl Ryazan became the 13th city to found birch bark letters.

Birch bark letters
Birch bark letters. Photo: Ras

What are birch bark documents?

These are usually brief inscriptions written, or rather carved, on the bark of the birch tree, which grows abundantly in northern Russia. Letters (and occasionally images) are scratched into the birch bark using a sharp device called a stylos; no ink is generally used, thus there is little chance of the ink fading over the lengthy period of time since these texts were written. And it’s a long time because the majority of Novgorod birch bark letters date from the late 11th to early 15th centuries (this would roughly correspond to the Middle English period).

Where the birch bark letter is located
Where the birch bark letter is located. Photo: RAS

The first birch bark document was discovered on July 26, 1951; since then, considerably over a thousand similar documents have been discovered.

The finding of birch bark documents written by individuals of both sexes, of all ages, and of diverse social positions altered perceptions of northern Russia’s literacy rates.

For more information on birch documentation, you can visit Languages Of The World.

Institute of Archaeology RAS

Banner
Related Post

A 1,600-year-old church has been discovered in Turkey’s ancient city of Priene

19 October 2021

19 October 2021

A 1,600-year-old historical church was unearthed during the excavations in the Ancient City of Priene, located in the western province...

Oldest prayer beads made from salmon vertebrae found on England’s Holy island

28 June 2022

28 June 2022

On the island of Lindisfarne, just off the coast of Northumberland, known in England as the “Holy Island“, archaeologists have...

2100-year-old women skeleton found lying in bronze ‘Mermaid Bed’

4 June 2022

4 June 2022

Archaeologists have discovered the 2100-year-old skeleton of a woman lying in a bronze ‘Mermaid Bed’ near the city of Kozani...

Hundreds of skeletons found on Welsh beach

4 July 2021

4 July 2021

Archaeologists found the burial site of women and children just below the surface of the sand dunes on Whitesands Bay...

Iron Age stone altar and gold-plated ceremonial sword discovered in Kazakhstan

14 August 2021

14 August 2021

A stone altar and a gold-plated ceremonial sword used in the early Iron Age were discovered during excavations along the...

Are the skeletons found in the restoration of the Bukoleon Palace the victims of the Crusader army massacre in Constantinople?

29 November 2021

29 November 2021

It is thought that the 7 skeletons messy found in the Bukoleon Palace excavations may be the victims of the...

“Cardiff’s earliest house” unearthed during an archaeological dig may shed light on the city’s earliest inhabitants

15 July 2022

15 July 2022

Archaeological excavation in a city park in Cardiff, the capital of Wales, has uncovered what is believed to be the...

Ukrainian Stonehenge

6 July 2021

6 July 2021

It has almost become a tradition to compare the structures surrounded by stones to the Stonehenge monument. This ancient cemetery,...

The greatest Anglo-Saxon treasure trove ever unearthed has been discovered by a metal detectorist

10 November 2021

10 November 2021

A metal detector in West Norfolk, England, unearthed 131 coins and 4 golden artifacts going back 1,400 years. This is...

Scientists Use Artificial İntelligence to Study Ancient Australian Rock Art

1 April 2021

1 April 2021

Rock art is the oldest surviving human art form. Throughout Australia, petroglyphs are part of the life and customs of...

Drought accelerated Hittite Empire’s collapse

9 February 2023

9 February 2023

Researchers have offered new insight into the abrupt collapse of the  Hittite Empire in the Late Bronze Age, with an...

The oldest grave in northern Germany 10,500 years old

14 October 2022

14 October 2022

Archaeologists have discovered the oldest known human remains in northern Germany in a 10,500-year-old cremation grave in Lüchow, Schleswig-Holstein. The...

Artifacts found in Japan could be prototypes of ninja weapons

14 January 2022

14 January 2022

Artifacts discovered in the ruins of structures associated with warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s 1590 Siege of Odawara may be prototypes of...

483 Celtic gold coins worth several million euros stolen from German museum

23 November 2022

23 November 2022

A huge horde of ancient gold coins dating back to 100 BC was stolen from the Celtic and Roman Museum...

Roman Empire’s Emerald Mines May Have mined by Nomads as Early as the 4th Century

4 March 2022

4 March 2022

New research by archaeologists from the  Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and the University of Warsaw suggests that Roman Empire emerald...

Comments
Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *