A birch bark document is a document written on pieces of birch bark. Such documents existed in several cultures. For instance, some Gandharan Buddhist texts have been found written on birch bark and preserved in clay jars.
On July 26, 1951, during excavations in Novgorod, a Soviet expedition led by Artemiy Artsikhovsky found the first Russian birch bark writing in a layer dated to ca. 1400. Since then, more than 1,000 similar documents were discovered in Staraya Russa, Smolensk, Torzhok, Pskov, Tver, Moscow, Ryazan, although Novgorod remains by far the most prolific source of them. In Ukraine, birch bark documents were found in Zvenigorod, Volynia. In Belarus, several documents were unearthed in Vitebsk and Mstislavl.
The late discovery of birch documents, as well as their amazing state of preservation, is explained by a deep culture layer in Novgorod (up to eight meters, or 25 feet) and heavy waterlogged clay soil which prevents the access of oxygen. Serious excavations in Novgorod started only in 1932, although some attempts had been made in the 19th century.
Although their existence was mentioned in some old East Slavic manuscripts, the discovery of birch bark documents (Russian: берестяна́я гра́мота, berestyanáya grámota) significantly changed the understanding of the cultural level and language spoken by the East Slavs between 11th and 15th centuries. About a hundred styluses have also been found, mostly made of iron, some of bone or bronze.
According to Valentin Yanin and Andrey Zaliznyak, most documents are ordinary letters by various people written in what is considered to be a vernacular dialect. The letters are of a personal or business character. Some documents include elaborate obscenities. Very few documents are written in Old Church Slavonic and only one in Old Norse.
The document numbered 292 from the Novgorod excavations (unearthed in 1957) is the oldest known document in any Finnic language. It is dated to the beginning of the 13th century. The language used in the document is thought to be an archaic form of the language spoken in Olonets Karelia, a dialect of the Karelian language. [1] For details and full text, see Birch bark letter no. 292.
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Novgorod birch-bark letter №336, about 1360-1380 A.D. Case of trampled wheat, release.
Original text (with added word division):
сь урѦдѣсѦ Ѧковь съ гюргьмо и съ харѣтономъ по бьсудьнои грамотѣ цто былъ возѦлъ гюргѣ грамоту в ызьѣжьнои пьшьнѣцѣ а харѣтоно во проторѣхо своѣхъ и возѦ гюрьгѣ за вьсь то рубьль и трѣ грѣвоны и коробью пьшьнѣцѣ а харѣтонъ возѦ дьсѦть локотъ сукона и грѣвону а боль не надобѣ гюрьгю нѣ харѣтону до Ѧкова нѣ Ѧкову до гюргѦ нѣ до харитона а на то рѦдьцѣ и послусѣ давыдъ лукѣнъ сынъ и сьтьпанъ таишѣнъ
Translation (with explanations in square brackets):
Here, Yakov has settled with Gyurgiy and with Hariton by courtless deed Gyurgiy has gotten [at court] concerning trampled [by horses] wheat and Hariton concerning his loss. Gyurgiy got one rouble [money], three grivnas [money], and basket [measure] of wheat for all that, and Hariton got ten cubits of cloth and one grivna. And Gyurgiy and Hariton have no more concern to Yakov, nor Yakov to Gyurgiy and Hariton. And witnesses to that are Davyd, son of Luka, and Stepan Taishin.
   | Slavic Department - The Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures | The University of Chicago Division of the Humanities |
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