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Russian archaeologists find 15th century griffin jug piece Irish Sun Wednesday 19th March, 2008 Moscow, March 19 (RIA Novosti) Archaeologists near the city of Veliky Novgorod in northwest Russia have discovered part of a centuries-old ceramic jug decorated with a mysterious griffin symbol. 'On the fragment of ceramic, most likely part of a broken jug, we saw an image of an animal with open jaws and wings, like a griffin,' the head of the archaeology team, Oleg Oleynikov, said. The griffin, portrayed as a gigantic bird with the head of an eagle and the body of a lion, first appeared...

Novgorod or Veliky Novgorod, is one of the major historical cities of Russia, and it started out as a trading station for the Varangians who traveled from the Baltic region to Constantinople by (possibly) late 10th century AD. But as it turns out, this historically significant settlement of northern Russia is also home to around thousand personal ‘tomes’ that are inscribed on bark of birch trees and are almost preserved in perfect condition. In fact, historians hypothesize that there are 20,000 similar specimens still waiting to be salvaged from the conducive anaerobic clay soil layers of the city environs. And...

Ancient Russia (Rus) occupied the territory of Eastern Europe and lay on trade routes running from Christian West to Muslim East and back. So far treasures have been found on the ways where caravans moved along. Western travelers thought Medieval Rus as a country of vast woods and plains with settlements and villages widely separated, though Vikings took Rus differently: the most popular Volga Trade Route connecting countries lying to the North and the South was called the Trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks. Old Scandinavian sagas mention 12 big towns of Ancient Rus, among them: Novgorod, Kiev,...

VELIKY NOVGOROD, May 26 (RIA Novosti) - Archaeologists have made a rare find of a number of medieval baby bottles at excavations in Veliky Novgorod, an ancient city in northwest Russia, a scientist said on Monday. "Similar bottles are rarely found in excavations, and here we have already discovered... three of them," Medieval Slavs made feeding bottles by attaching leather bags to the wider part of cow horns. A baby drank the milk from a hole made on the tip of a horn. Novgorod is one of the most ancient cities of the Eastern Slavs. It was first mentioned in...

Archaeologists in northwest Russia have discovered a chess piece dating back to the late 14th century, a spokesman for local archaeologists said on Friday. "The king, around several centimeters tall, is made of solid wood, possibly of juniper," the spokesman said. The excavations are being carried out at the site of the Palace of Facets, in the Novgorod Kremlin in Veliky Novgorod. The palace is believed to be the oldest in Russia. According to the city chronicles, chess as a competitive game emerged in Veliky Novgorod, the foremost historic city in northwest Russia, in the 13th century, but was banned...

Archeologists Discover Unique Things in Veliki Novgorod 27.05.2008 A group of archeologists carrying out diggings in Veliki Novgorod have found several ancient feeding bottles for babies. The finds were discovered at the digging site in Mikhailova Street. Here the archeologists found wooden feeding devices made of cow horns. The Slavs used to attach leather sacks with milk to the broad ends of hollow horns and their babies would suck the milk through holes in the narrow part of horns. It is interesting to note that not far from the archeological excavation site there is a working municipal kindergarten. Almost every...

“Ancient Russian Centaur” Found In Novgorod 17.08.2006 During archeological diggings in Velikiy Novgorod Russian scientists have found a figure they named "ancient Russian centaur". The figure was found in layers dated back to the end of XI century in the Troitsky dig near the Novgorod Kremlin. Unknown craftsman had cut a wooden bearded man with a hat on his head and a bow behind his back. The figure has hooves instead of feet and is covered with a golden coating. It is broken in that very part, where human body transforms to the body of a horse. The other part...