Birch trees were widely available and could be easily cultivated.
Thin pieces of birch bark was almostas good aswood-pulp paper, while requiring nothing to manufacture.
The manuscripts discovered in Novgorod belongs to a period between the 11th and the 15th centuries.
These documents tell a lot about how life was in medieval Novgorod.
Among this fascinating find is a charming collection of drawings made by a boy named Onfim.
Onfim lived in the middle of the thirteenth century.
But very often, Onfim got distracted and doodled on the pages.
He identified himself by writing I am a wild beast.
It is spewing fire from his mouth.
The beast looks like it’s carrying a sign that says Greetings from Onfim to Danilo.
It is assumed Danilo is a friend or a schoolmate.
Men, horses, weapons, and mythical beasts arent the only themes Onfim liked to draw.
He also drew people.
In this picture, Onfim draws his mother and father.
The text at the top says, Lord, help your servant Onfim!
Novgorod had a pretty literate population at that time.
The huge amount of birch-bark letters attest to the mass literacy of the population.
Indeed, Novgorod, along with Kiev, were the first Russian cities to haveformal schools.
Consequently, Novgorod became an important center of Russian culture, disseminating religious knowledge and translations of foreign authors.
The rich cultural diversity of the people of medieval Novgorod are reflected in these bitch bark documents.
The note ended with a bit of humor: If I am alive, I will pay for it.
I want you, and you me.
More than a thousand such notes were miraculously preserved in Novgorods oxygen-deficient soil.
They continue to turn out during excavations and at construction sites till this day.
Many of these birch bark letters can be read online onthis site.
