On this day in 1951, a Soviet archaeological expedition drove by Artemiy Artsikhovsky excavated the first ancient birch bark manuscript—a medieval letter engraved with Old Russian text. The present Doodle praises the 70th anniversary of this significant discovery that denoted a new chapter in Russian linguistics research and shed new light on every day life of the Rus individuals in the Middle Ages.
In the fourteenth century, birch bark won in Rus (presently Russia) as the most reliable material for communication among archaic city-dwellers. It was inexpensive, pervasive in the region’s vast swaths of forest, and could be handily engraved utilizing a sharp pointer made of metal, bone or wood.
Found in Veliky Novgorod—one of Russia’s oldest cities roughly 120 miles from St. Petersburg—the birch bark manuscript excavated in 1951 contains a short list of working assignments addressed to a nearby worker. This advancement discovering end up being only a glimpse of something larger, as more than 1,000 manuscripts have been found across Russia since—some tracing all the way back to the 11th century!
Prior to the 1951 excavation, historians for the most part depended on old Russian archives to shading in the ill defined situations of medieval history, however these records didn’t outline the particulars of everyday life. Birch bark compositions filled these holes with mind blowing point of interest, chronicling accounts from youngsters to high-positioning authorities. On account of these antiques, researchers currently accept old Russians had a lot higher rate of literacy than recently suspected and have found another Old Russian dialect.
Today, specialists gauge a huge number of birch bark writings stay under Russian soil. What will archeologists find straightaway?