maltby kaliningrad

Mark Maltby

THE EXPLOITATION OF ANIMALS IN TOWNS IN THE MEDIEVAL BALTIC TRADING NETWORK:

A CASE STUDY FROM NOVGORODIntroduction

This paper is based on current research assess-

ing the potential of zooarchaeological investi-

gations in medieval Novgorod, in north-west

Russia (Fig. 1). The town, founded in the 10th century

AD, dominated a very large region up to the 15th cen-

tury (Halperin, 1999). Its economic success was based

on its central role in the trading of pelts from animals,

such as squirrels, beavers and martens, and other forest

produce acquired from its extensive territory. It formed

an eastern extension of Baltic trading networks (Gaim-ster, 2001; 2006; Martin, 1986). The Medieval town

survives in deeply stratified anaerobic soils up to 7 m

deep (Dolgikh, Alexsandrovskii, 2010). Closely dated

sequences of wooden streets and associated proper-

ties have been unearthed during extensive excavations

(Khoroshev et al., 2001). Wood, leather and other or-

ganic materials are extremely well preserved and ex-

cavations over the last 80 years have produced nearly

a thousand birch-bark documents. These provide in-

formation about court cases, trade, tribute and other

Fig. 1. Map of Eastern Baltic showing location of Novgorod (adapted from: Brisbane et al., 2012)

230 M a r k M a l t b y

aspects of the daily lives of the rich merchants (boyars)

resident in Novgorod. Over 50 wooden cylinder seals,

which enclosed sacks of pelts brought as tribute, have

also been discovered.

Excavations have taken place in Novgorod since

1932 (Yanin, 2001). Several areas of the town have been

examined (Fig. 2). In the last 20 years most excavations

have been on the Troitsky sites in the south-west of the

town. Generally animal bones from excavations have not

been kept and analyses by Tsalkin (Цалкин, 1956) and

Sychevskaya (Сычевская, 1965) on mammal and fish

bones respectively from earlier excavations are the only

published reports on faunal remains from Novgorod

commonly cited.

A European Union-funded collaboration (Brisbane,

2001) provided the opportunity to assess the potential of

animal bones studies in Novgorod and sites in its territo-

ry. A summary of these results is presented here.

Most of the bones examined are from the Troitsky

sites. Samples of hand-collected bones were retained

from the lower levels of Troitsky 9–10 and all the bones

observed during the excavation of Troisky 11 were col-

lected. This assemblage dates to the 10th to 15th centu-

ries and bones from three different properties are being

compared. In addition, a very small wet-sieving experi-

ment was carried out on material from the Troitsky sites

to establish to what extent normal retrieval rates could

be improved.

Fig. 2. Map of Novgorod showing location of excavated sites (adapted from: Brisbane, 2001; 20 — Troitsky sites)

231T h e e x p l o i t a t i o n o f a n i m a l s i n t o w n s i n t h e m e d i e v a l B a l t i c t r a d i n g n e t w o r k

The exploitation of cattle in Novgorod

Over 50 000 mammal bone fragments including ma-

terial from sieved samples were recorded from the Troit-

sky sites. These included over 34000 identified bones

of domestic mammals. The hand-collected assemblage

was dominated by cattle, which provided over 2/3 of the

fragment counts, followed by pig, sheep/goat and small

numbers of horse, cat and dog (Tab. 1). There was rel-

atively little variation in the percentage of cattle in the

hand-collected material from the different sites. How-

ever, both pigs and sheep/goat were better represented

in the sieved sample, suggesting that normal excavation

methods were biased towards the recovery of the larger

cattle bones.

The consistency of the dominance of cattle bones

can be shown throughout the sequence from Troitsky 11

(Fig. 3). Comparisons between spits showed some fluc-

tuations with cattle being particularly well represented in

the 12th century layers. Even higher percentages of cattle

were recorded in samples from the Nerevsky and Slaven-

sky sites (Tab. 2; Цалкин, 1956). Recent excavations on

the Desyatinny site also produced very high percentages

of cattle (Tab. 2; Zinoviev, 2013. In press). It seems that

beef was by far the most importance source of meat in

the town throughout the Medieval period. Comparisons

with other Russian and north-east European Medieval

and Post-medieval urban and proto-urban centres show

that cattle bones are consistently very well represent-

ed in Russian urban assemblages (Ланцева, Лапшин,

2001; Цалкин, 1956), forming over 50 % of the total cat-

tle, pig and sheep/goat NISP counts in all apart from

the recently excavated Romanov Dvor site in Moscow

(Глазунова и др.., 2009). Elsewhere in north-east Eu-

rope, only the Medieval deposits from Oslo, the Post-

medieval assemblage obtained from Torino in Finland

(Puputti, 2008) and the early Medieval emporium at Pa-

viken on the island of Gotland (Wigh, 2001) have com-

parably high percentages of cattle (Tab. 2; Fig. 4). The

area around Novgorod is well suited for cattle with abun-

dant pasture available, particularly in the areas around

the floodplain of the River Volkhov and along the shore

of Lake Ilmen. Cattle still form an important part of the

modern local agricultural economy.

Table 1. Novgorod: domestic mammal NISP percentages from Troitsky excavations

Site Century% NISP

Cattle Pig S/G Horse Dog Cat Total C:P S/G:P H:C

Troitsky 9 10-E12 66 21 7 5 1 0 3657 3,18 0,34 0,08

Troitsky 10 10-E12 70 19 6 4 1 1 6849 3,60 0,29 0,05

Troitsky 11 Lower 10-E12 62 21 11 3 1 3 13221 2,89 0,49 0,05

Troitsky 11 Middle M12-E13 67 21 7 3 2 1 5241 3,22 0,34 0,04

Troitsky 11 Top M13-E15 69 17 8 2 1 2 5013 4,11 0,49 0,04

Troitsky 9-11 Total 10-E15 66 20 8 3 1 2 33981 3,26 0,41 0,05

Troitsky 9-11 Sieved 10-M13 46 35 14 1 0 4 295 1,33 0,39 0,03

Counts are of number of individual specimens (NISP); S/G = sheep/goat

C:P = NISP cattle/NISP Pig; S/G:P = NISP sheep/goat/NISP pig; H:C = NISP horse/NISP cattle

Troitsky 11: Lower = spits 14-22; Middle = spits 8-13; Top = spits 1-7

E = early; M = middle

Fig. 3. Percentages of

cattle, pig and sheep/

goat in Troitsky 11,

Novgorod by spit


Fig. 4. Cattle, sheep/

goat and pig ratios from

Eastern European towns

and proto-urban sites

Table 2. NISP percentages and ratios of cattle, pig and sheep/goat from Novgorod and selected other northern European towns and proto-towns

% NISP

Town/Site Period Cattle Pig S/G C:P S/G:P NISP Source

Novgorod, Troitsky 10-E15 70 21 9 3,26 0,41 33981 Maltby 2012

Novgorod, Desyatinny-1 10-16 75 21 4 3,57 0,20 5503 Zinoviev 2013 in press

Novgorod, Nerevsky 11-15 80 15 6 5,45 0,39 10416 Tsalkin 1956

Novgorod, Slavensky 13-17 80 13 7 5,98 0,51 10056 Tsalkin 1956

Staraya Ladoga 8-10 56 36 8 1,55 0,22 12216 Tsalkin 1956

Pskov 9-12 70 22 8 3,14 0,35 8001 Tsalkin 1956

Moscow, Zaryadrey 10-17 65 25 10 2,62 0,39 22468 Tsalkin 1956

Moscow, Romanov Dvor 12-19 44 26 30 1,49 1,13 11092 Glazunova et al. 2009

Staraya Ryazan 11-13 60 28 12 2,18 0,44 7234 Tsalkin 1956

Tver, Kremlin 13-E15 61 27 12 2,23 0,45 31485 Lantseva, Lapshin 2001

Grodno, Belarus 11-15 40 38 22 1,06 0,57 6546 Tsalkin 1956

Vilanji, Estonia 13-17 52 14 34 3,77 2,48 23926 Rannamäe 2010

Turku, Finland 13-19 49 13 38 3,95 3,08 37667 Tourunen 2008

Torino, Finland 17 61 10 29 6,01 2,84 1939 Puputti 2008

Wolin, Poland 9-12 17 71 12 0,24 0,17 28717 Filipowiak 1979; O'Connor 2010

Szczecin, Poland 9-11 12 78 9 0,16 0,12 22088 Benecke 1986; O'Connor 2010

Poznan, Poland 10-12 35 24 41 1,51 1,74 10081 Benecke 1986; O'Connor 2010

Legnica, Poland 10-12 43 50 6 0,86 0,12 4727 Benecke 1986; O'Connor 2010

Opole, Poland 10-12 30 56 14 0,52 0,25 11561 Benecke 1986; O'Connor 2010

Gdansk, Poland 10-12 30 53 17 0,56 0,31 18320 Kubasiewcz 1975; O'Connor 2010

Eketorp III, Sweden 11 36 15 49 2,38 3,23 187427 Boessneck et al.1979; O'Connor 2010

Birka, Sweden 7-8 E-M10 41 43 16 0,93 0,37 6027 Wigh 2001; O'Connor 2010

Sigtuna, St Gertrud 1-2 L10-E11 29 20 52 1,45 2,61 2471 Wigh 2001; O'Connor 2010

Sigtuna, Tradsgard.0-3 L10-11 45 19 36 2,38 1,94 18644 Wigh 2001; O'Connor 2010

Paviken, Gotland 9-M11 64 22 13 2,88 0,60 1398 Wigh 2001; O'Connor 2010

Lund, Sweden E11 48 28 24 1,74 0,86 3681 Benecke 1986; O'Connor 2010

Oslo, Norway 1E11-M12

62 22 16 2,75 0,72 11071 Lie 1988; O'Connor 2010

Counts are of number of individual specimens (NISP); S/G = sheep/goat

C:P = NISP cattle/NISP Pig; S/G:P = NISP sheep/goat/NISP pig


Mortality data obtained from 782 cattle mandibles

from the Troitsky excavations (Tab. 3) show that at least

42 % of them belonged to cattle over four years old (Stag-

es 6–7). Many of these adult animals could have provid-

ed calves, milk and/or traction power prior to slaughter.

However, only a small percentage of mandibles belonged

to very mature animals (Stage 7), indicating that many

cattle died between four and seven years old. There was

also a significant kill-off of third-year animals (Stage 4)

raised primarily for their meat.

There is also substantial evidence for the slaughter of

calves in their first and second years (Stages 1–3). Most

of the mandibles were from calves aged 2–6 months old.

Their frequency (14 %) indicates that veal was fairly fre-

quently eaten, particularly in the later medieval period.

This suggests that dairy produce was an important factor

in cattle husbandry. Measurements of the fused meta-

carpals belonging to cattle over three years of age sug-

gested that most of the adult cattle were females and, by

implication, that most of the immature cattle slaugh-

tered were males (Fig. 5). Dairy production became

increasingly important in Britain during the medieval

period and it is possible that this was a widespread Eu-

ropean trend. However, in general cattle appear to have

been raised for a combination of meat and other prod-

ucts.

Butchery marks were observed on 30 % of the cat-

tle bones from the Troitsky sites, mostly made by cleav-

ers. There is some consistency in the location and nature

of butchery marks, but also quite a lot of variation. This

observation, combined with the presence of large num-

bers of bones of poor meat quality deposited alongside

Fig. 5. Troitsky 9–11,

Novgorod cattle

metacarpal greatest

length and distal breadth

measurements

Table 3. Percentage of mandibles of cattle at different age stages at NovgorodSite 1 2 2–3 2–4 3 3–4 4 4–5 5 5–6 5–7 6 6–7 7 Total

Stage Percentages

Troitsky 9 0,6 5,6 3,4 3,9 2,2 14,0 3,4 4,5 7,3 3,9 36,0 9,0 6,2 178

Troitsky 10 0,8 7,1 0,8 3,3 3,8 5,0 13,8 1,7 2,5 7,5 9,2 35,4 6,7 2,5 240

Troitsky 11 Lower 1,0 12,2 0,5 2,0 5,4 3,9 11,2 2,0 8,8 9,8 8,8 24,9 5,4 4,4 205

Troitsky 11 Middle 1,2 2,4 2,4 1,2 14,3 8,3 10,7 7,1 8,3 32,1 7,1 4,8 84

Troitsky 11 Top 2,7 16,0 5,3 9,3 2,7 10,7 8,0 1,3 8,0 5,3 25,3 2,7 2,7 75

Troitsky 9-11 Total 0,9 8,3 0,4 3,1 4,6 3,5 12,9 3,5 5,3 8,1 7,4 31,5 6,6 4,1 782

Cumulative Percentages

Troitsky 9 0,6 6,2 6,2 9,6 13,5 15,7 29,7 33,1 37,6 44,9 48,8 84,8 93,8 100 178

Troitsky 10 0,8 7,9 8,7 12,0 15,8 20,8 34,6 36,3 38,8 46,3 55,5 90,9 97,6 100 240

Troitsky 11 Lower 1,0 13,2 13,7 15,7 21,1 25,0 36,2 38,2 47,0 56,8 65,6 90,5 95,9 100 205

Troitsky 11 Middle 0,0 1,2 1,2 3,6 6,0 7,2 21,5 29,8 40,5 47,6 55,9 88,0 95,1 100 84

Troitsky 11 Top 2,7 18,7 18,7 24,0 33,3 36,0 46,7 54,7 56,0 64,0 69,3 94,6 97,3 100 75

Troitsky 9-11 Total 0,9 9,2 9,6 12,7 17,3 20,8 33,7 37,2 42,5 50,6 58,0 89,5 96,1 100 782

Stage 1 = 4th deciduous premolar (dp4) not in wear

Stage 2 = dp4 in wear; 1st molar (M1) not in wear

Stage 3 = M1 in wear; 2nd molar (M2) not in wear

Stage 4 = M2 in wear; 3rd molar (M3) not in wear

Stage 5 = M3 in wear; 4th permanent premolar (P4) not in wear

Stage 6 = P4 in wear; Grant (1982) mandible wear stage (MWS) <46

Stage 7 = MWS >45


bones of high meat value, strongly suggests that cattle

were commonly acquired and butchered by different in-

dividuals within their properties.

Complete leather objects and offcuts have been

found within many Novgorod properties (Kublo, 2007a;

Rybina, 1992). Half of the 42 leather offcuts examined

from the Troitsky and Kremlin sites were made from cat-

tle hides including several calfskins (Sully, 2012). Some

of the insects found on the Troitsky sites are types that

can infest hides stored for processing (Reilly, 2012). Fine

incisions, indicative of initial skinning, were observed on

many cattle first phalanges (Maltby. In press). This evi-

dence suggests that leather production from cattle hides

took place within a number of different properties.

The exploitation of pigs in Novgorod

Pig bones were the second most common species re-

corded from the Troitsky sites, forming 20 % of the iden-

tified domestic mammal counts. They were better repre-

sented in the sieved sample, which suggests that normal

excavation methods may have been biased towards the

retrieval of cattle bones (Tab. 1). Pigs were also bet-

ter represented in the assemblage from the nearby set-

tlement at Gorodishche where sieving was employed

(Maltby, 2012). Comparisons between cattle, pig and

sheep/goat only from Troitsky 11, showed some fluctua-

tions in the relative abundance of cattle and pig, with pig

being better represented in some of the 10th and 11th cen-

tury deposits and again in some of the 13th century layers

(Fig. 3). However, further work is required to see wheth-

er these variations are repeated elsewhere in the town.

Comparisons between pig and sheep/goat counts

only decrease the problems caused by biased retrieval as

the bones of these species are more closely comparable

in size. Their relative frequencies have been compared

using the index NISP sheep/goat / NISP pig (after:

O’Connor, 2010). This ratio averages 0,41 for the hand-

collected material from the Troitsky sites, indicating that

pigs were consistently better represented than sheep/

goat (Tab. 1; Fig. 3).

Comparisons with other Russian and eastern Eu-

ropean urban and proto-urban assemblages again show

substantial variations in the abundance of pigs. The

Troitsky results were broadly similar to those from other

sites in Novgorod, although, as noted above, they were

heavily outnumbered by cattle particularly on the sites

excavated some years ago (Tab. 2). They are also sim-

ilar to the assemblages from Pskov, the Zaryadye site

in Moscow, Staraya Ryazan (Цалкин, 1956) and Tver

(Ланцева, Лапшин, 2001). Pigs are substantially bet-

ter represented at Staraya Ladoga, although still heavily

outnumbered by cattle (Tab. 2). None of the Russian as-

semblages are dominated by pigs in contrast to most ur-

ban sites in northern Poland (Tab. 2; O’Connor, 2010).

In Novgorod, it seems that although pork and bacon

were regularly consumed, they were much less impor-

tant than beef and veal.

Pig mandible ageing data from the Troitsky sites

(Tab. 4) showed that substantial numbers of juvenile pigs

(Stages 2 and 3) were killed particularly in the earlier lev-

els. Most of the Stage 3 mandibles were from pigs culled

in the autumn and winter of their first year. However, the

proportion of young pigs decreased significantly in the

higher spits of Troitsky 11 (Tab. 4), suggesting that pigs

became less intensively exploited in the later medieval

period. A similar decrease was noted in the sample from

the Desyatinny site (Zinoviev, 2013. In press). Mandibles

Table 4: Percentage of mandibles of pig at different age stages at NovgorodSite 1 2 2–3 2–4 3 3–4 4 4–5 5 5–6 5–7 6 6–7 7 Total

Stage Percentages

Troitsky 9 6,3 2,1 9,8 2,1 3,5 3,5 13,3 18,2 4,9 8,4 4,9 23,1 143

Troitsky 10 4,0 2,3 1,7 13,1 0,6 2,3 1,7 25,6 8,5 5,1 8,0 6,3 21,0 176

Troitsky 11 Lower 9,1 0,9 0,5 15,6 1,4 3,2 1,8 22,8 11,9 5,9 14,2 5,0 7,8 219

Troitsky 11 Middle 2,7 1,3 1,3 1,3 2,7 1,3 20,0 21,3 2,7 17,3 8,0 20,0 75

Troitsky 11 Top 1,1 1,1 2,2 2,2 21,1 15,6 6,7 10,0 6,7 33,3 90

Troitsky 9-11 Total 5,5 1,6 0,6 10,5 1,1 2,6 2,1 21,1 13,8 5,3 11,2 5,8 18,8 703


Troitsky 9 0,0 6,3 8,4 8,4 18,2 20,3 23,8 27,3 40,6 58,8 63,7 72,1 77,0 100 143

Troitsky 10 0,0 4,0 6,3 8,0 21,1 21,7 24,0 25,7 51,3 59,8 64,9 72,9 79,8 100 176

Troitsky 11 Lower 0,0 9,1 10,0 10,5 26,1 27,5 30,7 32,5 55,3 67,2 73,1 87,3 92,3 100 219

Troitsky 11 Middle 0,0 2,7 4,0 4,0 5,3 6,6 9,3 10,6 30,6 51,9 54,6 71,9 79,9 100 75

Troitsky 11 Top 0,0 1,1 2,2 2,2 4,4 4,4 4,4 6,6 27,7 43,3 50,0 60,0 66,7 100 90

Troitsky 9-11 Total 0,0 5,5 7,1 7,7 18,2 19,3 21,9 24,0 45,1 58,9 64,2 75,4 81,2 100 703

Stage 1 = 4th deciduous premolar (dp4) not in wear



Stage 4 = M2 in wear; 3rd molar (M3) not in wear

Stage 5 = P4 in wear; M3 not in wear

Stage 6 = M3 at Grant (1982) wear stages a-b

Stage 7 = M3 at Grant wear stages c-g


at Stages 5 and 6 were found frequently throughout the

Troitsky deposits suggesting that many pigs well culled

between 18 and 30 months of age. Although a substan-

tial proportion of mandibles had reached Stage 7 and be-

longed to adult pigs, most of these had only just reached

this stage, suggesting that the majority were killed be-

fore they were four years old. The paucity of old pigs is

not unusual as pigs can tolerate high levels of immature

slaughter.

The probability that many of the pigs were killed in

the autumn and winter suggests that much of their meat

was not eaten fresh. Meat is commonly preserved by

smoking and salting and it is known that salt production

and trade was important in north-west Russia (Smith, Christian, 1984). Staraya Russa, situated c. 100 km south

of Novgorod, was the centre of large-scale salt produc-

tion in the region at that time and therefore Novgorod

had access to large relatively local supplies of salt (Lo-gunov, 1997). References to salt have been found on sev-

eral birch-bark documents in Novgorod (Rybina, 2001).

Over 45 % of the pig elements from the Troitsky sites are

cranial elements (Maltby. In press), indicating that pig

butchery often took place within the properties. It is like-

ly that much of the preserving of the carcasses took place

within them as well.

The exploitation of goat and sheep in Novgorod

Both sheep and goats were commonly identified in

the Troitsky sheep/goat assemblage but unfortunate-

ly were not consistently quantified. Goats outnum-

bered sheep on the Desyatinny site (Zinoviev, 2013. In

press). At Gorodishche, 43 % of the diagnostic sheep/

goat bones belonged to goats (Maltby, 2012). Some goats

may have been kept in Novgorod itself, which may ex-

plain their good representation in the urban deposits.

More research is required, but it seems that goats formed

a much higher proportion of the sheep/goat assem-

blage in Novgorod than was usually the case in Euro-

pean towns and proto-urban sites. For example, in the

11th century deposits at Eketorp, Sweden, goats provided

less than 4 % of the diagnostic sheep and goat elements

(Boessneck et al., 1979). In the 17th century sample from

Tornio, Finland, only 1 % of the elements were identi-

fied as goat (Puputti, 2008). Interpretations of the rel-

ative abundance of the two species are complicated by

the presence of worked horn cores on many urban sites.

These tend to be biased towards the large horn cores

of male goats, whose horns were preferentially select-

ed. For example at Viljandi, Estonia, 90 % of the horn

cores and skulls belonged to goat, whereas only 34 % of

the measured metacarpals were classified as goat (Ran-namäe, 2010). Novgorod has also produced substantial

numbers of goat horn cores, probably including many

that were imported as raw material for working.

However, the combined counts of sheep/goat ele-

ments were very low in the Troitsky assemblage provid-

ing only 8 % of the domestic mammal elements (Tab. 1).

Meat from goat and sheep was much less important than

beef and pork. The lands around the town were unsuit-

ably wet or too wooded for sheep grazing. Although

sheep/goat elements were always outnumbered by pig,

the percentages of these species were closer in some of

the 14th century deposits from Troitsky 11 (Fig. 3). This,

however, seems mainly to reflect a decrease in pigs rather

than an increase in sheep/goat. This may be associated

with the significant decrease in woodland and the con-

comitant increase in arable in the area at the end of the

13th century (Spiridonova, Aleshinskaya, 2012). However,

it should be noted that a similar pattern was not observed

in the Desyatinny sample, where sheep/goat were con-

sistently more poorly represented than in the Troitsky

assemblage (Tab. 2; Zinoviev, 2013. In press), nor in the

assemblages from the earlier excavations in Novgorod

(Цалкин, 1956).

The poor representation of sheep/goat sets apart

the assemblages from Novgorod and most other Rus-

sian towns from other towns in the Baltic region (Tab. 2;

Fig. 4). In only one of the Russian assemblages did sheep/

goat provide over 12 % of the total cattle, pig and sheep/

goat specimens. This was the Romanov Dvor in Mos-

cow (Глазунова и др., 2009), which consisted mainly of

Post-medieval material. Sheep/goats outnumber pigs on

several of the Scandinavian and Finnish sites. Sheep/

goats are also poorly represented on many Polish sites

but here pigs rather than cattle were the dominant spe-

cies (Fig. 4).

The sheep/goat mandibles used in the ageing analy-

sis (Tab. 5) included specimens identified to both species

as well as many not specifically identified. Sheep and

goat may have been treated quite differently and conse-

quently could have had different life expectancies. Sig-

nificant numbers of mandibles of immature sheep and

goats were found on the Troitsky sites with over half be-

longing to animals under two years old (Stages 1–4).

Such high percentages indicate that exploitation was

mainly focused on meat production. Overall, the high-

est percentage (22 %) of sheep/goat mandibles were at

Stage 4, and belonged to animals killed in their second

year at a time they had reached nearly full size. On Troit-

sky 11, the percentage of mandibles from immature an-

imals decreased slightly in the middle and upper spits,

perhaps indicating that meat production became a little

less intensive.

This may also indicate that wool production in-

creased in importance in the later Medieval period. Wool

was a very important commodity throughout Medieval

Europe and there were major trading networks involving

wool and cloth. At least a quarter of the mandibles found

on the Troitsky sites belonged to animals over three years

old (Stages 6 and 7). Although many of these belonged

to goats rather than sheep, sheep of this age would have

produced several annual fleeces of wool. The increase

in the proportion of Stage 7 mandibles in the later Me-

dieval layers of Troitsky 11 (Tab. 5) could also indicate

that wool production was becoming more important.


Further samples are, however, required to confirm this

trend. Racks for cleaning wool have been discovered on

one of the Troitsky properties and other wooden objects

associated with cloth production are common finds in

Novgorod (Kublo, 2007b).

The exploitation of horse in Novgorod

Horse bones had a relatively small but consistent

presence in the Troitsky samples (Tab. 1). They never

formed over 5 % of the domestic mammal counts and

the ratio of horse to cattle is only 0,05:1. Horses were not

a regular source of food, although 17 % of their bones

bore processing marks. Some of these, particularly those

on the phalanges, metapodials and radii, were marks

during skinning and bone-working but many others,

particularly those located on the scapula and upper limb

bones, were made during dismemberment and filleting.

Many of these butchery marks were very similar to those

found on cattle (Maltby. In press). Although the relative

frequency of processing marks was lower than for cattle,

suggesting that horsemeat was less intensively exploited,

it does appear that substantial numbers of the horse car-

casses were butchered. It seems therefore that the inhab-

itants of Novgorod consumed horseflesh throughout the

medieval period, forming a small supplement to the meat

diet, despite Christian decrees forbidding its consump-

tion (Bartosiewicz, 2003. P. 117). Horse bones formed a

higher percentage of the assemblage from the Desyatin-

ny site, although these included small groups of asso-

ciated bones (Zinoviev, 2013. In press). Comparisons of

the relative abundance of horse and cattle on other Rus-

sian urban sites show some variations (Tab. 6). Unusu-

ally high ratios of horse were recorded at Grodno and

Staraya Ryazan (Цалкин, 1956), although it is not clear

whether any of these counts included partial skeletons,

which would significantly bias the results. The Russian

results lie in stark contrast to those from many of the

sites in the northern Baltic, where horse bones have been

found in urban deposits only very rarely indeed (Tab. 6).

Although the meat of horses was sometimes eaten,

and their hides made into leather and some of their bones

made into artefacts, there is no doubt that the main val-

ue of horses was for transport. Both the plant macrofos-

sil and insect analysis has shown that horses were stabled

in various Novgorod properties (Monk, Johnston, 2012;

Reilly, 2012). Birch-bark documents allude to horses

much more frequently than for any other species (Rybi-na, 2001), reflecting their high status. Nearly all the age-

able horse bones from the Troitsky sites were from adult

animals, indicating that most of the horses had been re-

quired for other duties before they died.

Dogs and cats in Novgorod

Although there were comparatively few finds of

these species on the Troitsky sites (Tab. 1), their ubiqui-

tous presence in the town has been attested by the large

number of bones gnawed by dogs in particular. Many

discarded bones were clearly accessible to scavengers.

Butchery marks were noted on 5 % of the dog bones and

these included filleting as well as skinning marks (Malt-by. In press). Similarly, several cat bones have evidence

for skinning and two bore filleting marks. Documentary

evidence implies that dogs and cats were eaten during a

famine in the 13th century (Riha, 1970). Metrical analy-

sis from the Desyatinny site indicated that most of the

dogs were of medium size and would have been suitable

Table 5: Percentage of mandibles of sheep/goat at different age stages at NovgorodSite 1 2 2–3 2–4 3 3–4 4 4–5 5 5–6 5–7 6 6–7 7 Total

Stage Percentages

Troitsky 9 11,0 1,6 19,0 7,9 25,4 11,1 3,2 17,5 1,5 1,6 63

Troitsky 10 2,0 19,6 29,4 15,7 2,0 29,4 2,0 51

Troitsky 11 Lower 1,0 3,8 6,7 1,9 19,0 5,7 21,9 4,8 12,4 1,9 1,0 12,4 1,9 5,7 105

Troitsky 11 Middle 20,0 4,0 4,0 12,0 12,0 4,0 4,0 36,0 4,0 25

Troitsky 11 Top 2,2 8,9 17,8 15,6 2,2 17,8 2,2 2,2 13,3 6,7 11,1 45

Troitsky 9-11 Total 0,3 5,5 3,1 1,4 16,3 7,6 22,1 2,1 12,8 2,1 1,0 18,7 2,1 4,8 289


Troitsky 9 0,0 11,0 11,0 12,6 31,6 39,5 64,9 64,9 76,0 79,2 79,2 96,7 98,2 100 63

Troitsky 10 0,0 0,0 2,0 2,0 21,6 21,6 51,0 51,0 66,7 66,7 68,7 98,1 98,1 100 51

Troitsky 11 Lower 1,0 4,8 11,5 13,4 32,4 38,1 60,0 64,8 77,2 79,1 80,1 92,5 94,4 100 105

Troitsky 11 Middle 0,0 20,0 20,0 24,0 28,0 40,0 52,0 52,0 56,0 60,0 60,0 96,0 96,0 100 25

Troitsky 11 Top 0,0 0,0 2,2 2,2 11,1 28,9 44,5 46,7 64,5 66,7 68,9 82,2 88,9 100 45

Troitsky 9-11 Total 0,3 5,5 8,3 9,7 26,0 33,6 55,7 57,8 70,6 72,7 73,7 92,4 94,5 100 289

Stage 1 = 4th deciduous premolars (dp4) not in wear



Stage 4 = M2 in wear; 3rd molar (M3) and permanent premolars not in wear

Stage 5 = M3 in wear; M1 at Grant (1982) wear stage g

Stage 6 = M1 at Grant wear stages h-m; M2 at Grant wear stage g

Stage 7 = M1 and M2 at Grant wear stages h-m


as guard dogs (Zinoviev, 2010. In press). There were few

of a size which provided evidence of specialized breed-

ing. A full discussion of metrical data of all the species

from Novgorod will be published in due course (Maltby.

In press).

The cat assemblage from the Troitsky sites included

several groups of associated bones indicating that most

cats were probably buried or dumped unprocessed. The

presence of substantial numbers of unfused bones (Malt-by. In press; Zinoviev, 2013. In press) suggests that many

of the cats resident in the town failed to attain adulthood.

The exploitation of wild mammals in Novgorod and its territory

There is little evidence that meat from wild mam-

mals played a significant role in the diet of the inhab-

itants of medieval Novgorod. Bones of wild mammals

formed 1 % or less of the total identified mammal spe-

cies recovered by hand from the Troitsky excavations,

and only 3 % of the sieved sample. Comparably low per-

centages were obtained from excavations of the Nerevsky

and Slavensky sites (Tab. 7). The higher percentage ob-

tained at the Desyatinny site is the result of provisionally

designating a higher proportion of the pig bones to wild

boar (Zinoviev, 2013. In press). Excluding these identi-

fications, the percentage of wild species lies at similarly

low levels as the other sites from Novgorod.

Elk, along possibly with wild boar, was the most im-

portant of the wild species that was eaten. Bones from all

parts of elk skeletons were found in the Troitsky excava-

tions. Despite their large size, it seems that elk carcasses

were brought to the town for final processing within dif-

ferent properties. Butchery marks similar to those found

on cattle were observed on a third of their bones. In ad-

dition, elk antlers were commonly used in the manufac-

ture of combs and other artefacts. Worked antler offcuts

have been found in abundance within some properties

indicating specialist production (Smirnova, 2005). As in

the case of goat horns, it is likely that large numbers of

antlers were imported into the town.

Hare was the most common of the wild species rep-

resented on the Troitsky sites, although providing only

0,3 % of the identified mammal assemblage. Many of

their bones, however, may have been overlooked dur-

ing normal retrieval. Cut marks were observed on 9 % of

their bones.

Bones of beaver provided only 0,3 % of the Troit-

sky mammal assemblage and have been recorded only in

small numbers on other sites in the town (Tab. 7). Bones

from all parts of the body were represented indicating

that whole carcasses were processed in the town. Foot

bones are under-represented, possibly being removed

with the skins. However, it is possible that these small

bones were commonly overlooked during normal ex-

cavation. Butchery marks were observed on 35 % of the

beaver bones. These included skinning marks on cranial

elements. However, most of the cut marks were associ-

ated with dismemberment and filleting of the shoulder,

pelvis and upper limbs. Beaver meat was therefore occa-

sionally eaten in the town although beaver bones largely

disappeared in the 13th century and later deposits on the

Troitsky sites (Maltby, 2012). A similar decline has been

noted on the Nerevsky and Desyatinny sites (Цалкин,

1956; Zinoviev, 2013. In press).

Only three squirrel bones were recovered during

normal excavations on the Troitsky sites and they have

not been recorded from other sites in the town (Tab. 7).

Table 6. Cattle and horse NISP counts and ratios from selected north-eastern European townsTown/Site Period NISP Cattle NISP Horse H:C C+H NISP Source

Novgorod, Troitsky 10-E15 22289 1089 0,05 23378 Maltby 2012

Novgorod, Desyatinny-1 10-16 4123 580 0,14 4703 Zinoviev 2013 in press

Novgorod, Nerevsky 11-15 8300 977 0,12 9277 Tsalkin 1956

Novgorod, Slavensky 13-17 8026 243 0,03 8269 Tsalkin 1956

Staraya Ladoga 8-10 6840 385 0,06 7225 Tsalkin 1956

Pskov 9-12 5599 790 0,14 6389 Tsalkin 1956

Moscow, Zaryadrey 10-17 14691 1144 0,08 15835 Tsalkin 1956

Moscow, Romanov Dvor 12-19 4897 307 0,06 5204 Glazunova et al. 2009

Staraya Ryazan 11-13 4364 1217 0,28 5581 Tsalkin 1956

Tver, Kremlin 13-E15 19074 2105 0,11 21179 Lantseva, Lapshin 2001

Grodno, Belarus 11-15 2632 933 0,35 3565 Tsalkin 1956

Vilanji, Estonia 13-17 12442 410 0,03 12852 Rannamäe 2010

Turku, Finland 13-19 18551 20 0,00 18571 Tourunen 2008

Torino, Finland 17 1183 7 0,01 1190 Puputti 2008

Eketorp III, Sweden 11 67495 624 0,01 68119 Boessneck et al.1979; O'Connor 2010

Birka, Sweden 7-8 E-M10 2442 0 0,00 2442 Wigh 2001

Sigtuna, St Gertrud 1-2 L10-E11 709 0 0,00 709 Wigh 2001

Sigtuna, Tradsgard.0-3 L10-11 8334 0 0,00 8334 Wigh 2001

Paviken, Gotland 9-M11 900 2 0,00 902 Wigh 2001

H:C = NISP horse/NISP cattle


Table 7: Wild mammal species counts (NISP) from recent excavations in Novgorod and its territory

Bos Elk

Rei

n

Roe

Har

e

Boa

r*

Bea

r

Squ

rl

Bea

v

Ott

er

Mar

t

Pol

e

Sto

at

Fox

Lynx

Wol

f

Bad

g Total Wild

Total Mamm. % Wild % Wild

ex.Boar

Novgorod

Troitsky 9 9 2 14 1 18 44 3701 1,2 1,2

Troitsky 10 5 5 1 16 27 6876 0,4 0,4

Troitsky 11 Lower 16 26 1 2 2 64 1 112 13333 0,8 0,8

Troitsky 11 Middle 34 20 1 4 2 61 5302 1,2 1,1

Troitsky 11 Top 16 1 49 2 2 1 71 5084 1,4 1,3

Troitsky 9-11 Total 0 80 3 0 114 4 9 3 100 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 315 34296 0,9 0,9

Troitsky Sieved 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 1 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 306 3,5 3,5

Desyatinny Total 1 4 3 177 1 2 3 1 192 5503 3,4 0,3

Nerevsky Total 37 9 5 29 5 6 8 5 104 9850 1,0 1,0

Slavensky Total 13 6 3 1 23 8424 0,3 0,2

Hinterland

Gorodishche 9-10 0 7 0 0 44 0 1 11 23 0 1 0 1 0 0 4 0 92 4351 2,1 2,1

Georgii 9-10 0 18 0 0 1 0 1 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 25 533 4,5 4,5

Prost 9-10 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 54 0 0 0 0 0 0 56 204 21,5 21,5

Periphery

Minino 11-E12 31 7 2 6 2 214 423 4 45 2 5 741 280 72,6 72,5

Minino L12-13 56 4 2 13 6 2 153 183 7 40 4 5 1 476 343 58,1 57,8

Minino 11-13 20 2 2 5 7 56 252 1 19 1 1 366 245 59,9 59,4

Minino Total 0 107 13 6 24 15 2 423 858 12 104 7 0 11 0 0 1 1583 868 64,6 64,4

Counts are of number of individual specimens (NISP)Bos = bison/aurochs; Rein = reindeer; Squrl = squirrel; Beav = beaver; Mart = marten; Pole = polecat; Badg = badger* Some wild boar bones may have been categorized as domestic pig and/or some domestic pigs as wild boar

Sieving produced another bone and it is possible that

further sieving would produce more of this and other

fur-bearing species (pine marten, otter, polecat, stoat,

fox, lynx, bear, wolf, sable) which have only been found,

if at all, in very small numbers in excavations of the town

(Tab. 7). Nine third phalanges were the only bear bones

identified in the Troitsky assemblage, two of which have

been cut. Some of these could have been amulets (one of

the specimens is worked), but it is probable that others

were attached to bearskins acquired by the inhabitants of

the town. Records in birch-bark documents suggest that

bearskins were luxury items (Rybina, 2012).

Nor is there much evidence for the extensive exploi-

tation of wild mammals in the hinterland of Novgorod

during the 9th and 10th centuries. Despite extensive siev-

ing, bones of wild species provided only 2 % of the mam-

mal sample at Gorodishche, although smaller species

such as hare and squirrel were better represented and

wolf, stoat and marten were also identified (Tab. 7).

Wild mammals were a little more abundant in the small-

er sample from Georgii. Most of these bones belonged to

elk, although fur-bearing species (beaver, squirrel, bear

and lynx) were present (Tab. 7). At Prost, the high per-

centage (22 %) of wild species reflected the recovery of a

group of pine marten foot bones in one deposit, which

represented the remains of at least four skinned animals.

The pivotal role of Novgorod in the international fur

trade during the medieval period is well known through

documentary sources (Makarov, 2006; 2009; 2012; Mar-tin, 1986). Many thousands of pelts were collected every

year from the forest zones of northern Russia with beaver

and squirrels being particularly important. There are, for

example, frequent references to squirrel pelts in birch-

bark documents (Rybina, 2007). However, the great im-

portance of fur-bearing species in the regional economy

is not reflected in the zooarchaeological material from

Novgorod and settlements in its immediate hinterland.

To find evidence for large-scale fur procurement we

need to consider more remote parts of the forest zone,

for example, the area around Kubenskoe Lake in the Be-

loozero region c. 400 km to the east of Novgorod. Ex-

cavations at Minino have produced an assemblage in

which wild species provided nearly 65 % of the identi-

fied mammal remains (Tab. 7). Beaver was the best rep-

resented species forming 35 % of the assemblage (Savi-netskii. In press). The assemblage again included many

good meat-bearing bones. Animals hunted for their pelts

also provided significant amounts of meat for the lo-

cal community. In addition to beaver, large numbers of

bones of squirrel and marten were recovered along with a

small number of bones of other fur-bearing species such

as otter, polecat, fox and bear. A number of other settle-

ments in the Beloozero and Vologda regions have also

produced assemblages containing substantial percentag-

es of bones of fur-bearing species (Makarov, 2009).

The percentage of beaver halved in the 13th century

deposits at Minino and the percentages of squirrel and

marten bones also decreased (Tab. 7). Over-exploitation,

possibly also reflected in the evidence for an increase in

the number of immature beavers at Minino (Savinet-skii. In press), and woodland clearance for farming are

both likely to have been factors in their decline. As noted


above, this also seems to be reflected in the Novgorod

assemblages. It is also significant that no references to

beavers have been found on birch-bark documents dated

later than the early 13th century (Rybina, 2007).

Although the overall percentage of squirrel also de-

creased in the 13th century deposits at Minino, the in-

tensive exploitation of squirrels for their fur continued in

northern Russia into the late medieval period, and is re-

flected in other evidence (Makarov, 2012; Martin, 1986).

Therefore, the significance of Novgorod’s role in the

international fur trade is best reflected in the composi-

tion of the animal bone assemblage at Minino, located in

one of the major hunting areas, rather than in Novgorod

itself. The trade was in furs and pelts, not meat. Skinned

carcasses were not transported. Animal bones found in

urban excavations principally provide evidence about lo-

cal consumption practices and are unlikely to produce

evidence for the import of pelts, particularly as many of

those pelts were destined for subsequent export.

Comparisons with other Russian and eastern Euro-

pean towns will be made elsewhere (Maltby. In press).

Variations in the presence and relative abundance of dif-

ferent wild mammal species depends upon a variety of

factors including local climatic conditions and vegeta-

tion, date and the social status of the settlement. Thus,

it is no surprise to see that seals occur only on the most

northerly sites such as Staraya Ladoga, Turku, Torino

and Eketorp (Цалкин, 1956; Tourenen, 2008, Puputti, 2008; Boessneck et al., 1979). Seal bones have not been

found in Novgorod. Beaver bones have been found in

most Russian towns (Ланцева, Лапшин, 2001; Цалкин,

1956), although they are notably absent from the Ro-

manov Dvor site in Moscow, where most of the deposits

are of Post-medieval date (Глазунова и др., 2009). Most

of the beaver population in European Russia had disap-

peared by the 19th century because of over-exploitation

(Zinoviev, 2013. In press).

Birds in Novgorod

Although bird bones were undoubtedly under-rep-

resented in assemblages derived from hand-excavation

in Novgorod, they were not found very frequently in the

sieved sample either, and birds appear generally to have

been relatively unimportant in the diet. The identified

bird bones have been divided into broad categories in

this brief summary (Tab. 8). More detailed discussions

of bird bones from recent excavations in the town and

its hinterland can be found in Hamilton-Dyer (2002)

and Maltby (In press). Several species of duck are rep-

resented. Bones from ducks the size of mallard were the

most commonly identified, forming nearly 40 % of the

total number of bird bones from the Troitsky sites (Tab.

8). Some of these may have been from domestic ducks

kept within the town and its environs. However, metrical

analysis indicated that most of the birds were no larger

than wild mallard. It is likely that mallards were hunted

alongside smaller ducks, which themselves provided over

14 % of the hand-collected bird assemblage and an even

higher percentage of the sieved sample (Tab. 8). Dif-

ferentiation between species of duck is difficult as there

is substantial overlap in size, but the majority of these

bones were a good match for teal. However, several oth-

er small- and medium-sized ducks, including wigeon,

pochard, goldeneye and garganey were all probably rep-

resented (Appendix 1). Apart from the mallard, which

is resident in the area around Novgorod throughout the

year, all the duck species are summer visitors (Hamilton-Dyer, 2002).

Geese provided only 5 % of the identified bird bones

in the hand-collected assemblage from the Troitsky sites.

Their large size facilitated their retrieval compared to

bones of smaller species. Geese were less well represent-

ed in the sieved sample (Tab. 8). The bones were mainly

the size of greylag goose, which is currently a summer

visitor to the region, but some of the bones may have

been from birds bred in captivity. A few bones may have

belonged to smaller species such as the pink-footed or

white-fronted goose.

Other species of waterfowl identified in small num-

bers in the Troitsky assemblage included swan, crane,

stork, heron, great-crested grebe, coot, cormorant,

gull (cf.) woodcock and (cf.) snipe. Most of the bones

of landfowl were identified as capercaillie and/or black

grouse. Again, the large size of these species meant that

their bones were more likely to be recovered than those

of smaller species. Small numbers of bones of hazel hen,

partridge and woodpigeon were also identified.

Table 8: Bird category counts (NISP) from Troitsky excavations in Novgorod

Site Domestic Fowl Mallard Other

Ducks Geese Other Waterfowl Landfowl Raptors Corvids Passerines Total

Troitsky 9 123 176 47 10 5 6 3 4 374

Troitsky 10 99 245 49 26 6 15 4 1 445

Troitsky 11 Lower 540 805 327 92 35 54 53 47 1953

Troitsky 11 Middle 345 141 82 46 12 34 45 12 717

Troitsky 11 Top 142 46 37 20 1 9 17 2 274

Troitsky 9-11 Total 1249 1413 542 194 59 118 122 66 0 3763

Hand-collected % 33,2 37,5 14,4 5,2 1,6 3,1 3,2 1,8 0,0

Troitsky Sieved 19 37 27 1 2 8 94

Troitsky Sieved % 20,2 39,4 28,7 1,1 2,1 0,0 0,0 0,0 8,5

See Appendix 1 for full list of species identified


Bones of domestic fowl (chicken) were also found

in significant numbers. They were less well represent-

ed than mallard in the lower levels of the Troitsky sites,

but became the most common bird species identified

in assemblages derived from later medieval deposits of

the Troitsky (Tab. 8) and Fedorovsky sites (Hamilton-Dyer, 2002), indicating that they were probably kept in

greater numbers within the town from the middle of the

12th century onwards. Deposits of medullary bone were

found within the shafts of substantial numbers of the

domestic fowl femora, indicating that they belonged to

egg-laying hens. There were also substantial numbers of

porous bones, indicating the presence of young chick-

ens, which again supports the contention that many of

these birds were kept by the residents of the town and ex-

ploited for their eggs as well as their meat.

Several species of raptors, corvids and small passer-

ines were identified (Appendix 1) but there was no firm

evidence that any of them were eaten. Bones from the

wing of a white-tailed eagle had evidence of fine knife

cuts made when it was dismembered and the feathers re-

moved (Hamilton-Dyer, 2002). The feathers themselves,

rather than the meat, may well have been the product

exploited. It is probable that many of the birds of prey

were used in falconry. Bones of goshawk and sparrow-

hawk were the most commonly identified and some-

times these formed associated bone groups, indicating

that their carcasses were not processed for food. Hobby

and kestrel bones were also recorded and these may also

have belonged to captive trained birds. However, these

and many of the other raptors, corvids and passerines

may have been birds resident in or near the town, ex-

ploiting the abundant food supply available amongst the

rubbish discarded within and between the properties in

the town.

The bird assemblage from Novgorod is unusual in

several respects. Most medieval urban assemblages from

Europe are dominated by bones of domestic fowl and

geese. Examples include Winchester in England (Ser-jeantson, 2006) and Gdansk in Poland (Makowiecki, Got-fredson, 2002). The species represented in Novgorod are

similar to those found in the Post-medieval deposits of

the Romanov Dvor excavations in Moscow (Глазунова и др., 2009). However, there, bones of geese (mainly grey

lag/domestic-sized) outnumbered (26 %) both domes-

tic fowl (18 %) and mallard-sized ducks (8 %). Smaller

duck species and other waterfowl were poorly represent-

ed but large landfowl formed a more substantial portion

of the assemblage than in Novgorod with black grouse

(20 %) and capercaillie (11 %), being particularly well

represented. The bird assemblage from the Kremlin site

in Tver also produced a species list similar to Novgorod,

including several species of birds of prey (goshawk, spar-

rowhawk, black kite, peregrine falcon) but the assem-

blage awaits detailed quantification (Ланцева, 1999).

Fish in Novgorod

Various forms of evidence demonstrate that fish-

ing was important in the local economy of Novgorod.

The superb preservation conditions have facilitated the

recovery of fishing equipment (Rybina, 2007). Several

birch-bark documents refer to fish, sometimes by spe-

cies (Rybina, 2001; 2007; Brisbane, Maltby, 2002). Un-

fortunately, a fuller understanding of the importance of

fish in the diet of the inhabitants of medieval Novgorod

awaits a more extensive sieving programme. Sieving tri-

als showed that 75 % of the bones recovered belonged to

fish, yet they provided only 2 % of the bones from nor-

mal recovery from the Troitsky (Maltby, Hamilton-Dy-er, 2001). The hand-collected sample is biased towards

large species such as catfish (wels) and the larger pike

(Tab. 9).

In contrast, the sieved assemblage was dominated

by Cyprinidae. Of the elements identifiable to species,

most belonged to bream. Roach, dace, chub, ide and sil-

ver bream were also recorded (Appendix 1). Other cypri-

nid species were identified in the Nerevsky assemblage

(Сычевская, 1965). Zander and pike were also quite well

represented in the Troitsky sample. Perch and ruffe were

also identified (Tab. 9). All these species are available

locally in Lake Ilmen and the River Volkhov. Howev-

er, only two birch-bark documents have referred to these

locally abundant species (pike, bream) by name (Rybi-na, 2001). These documents tend to record transactions

involving rarer species of fish. For example, one docu-

ment refers to sturgeon but finds of sturgeons are rare in

the bone assemblage (Tab. 9). Sturgeon are not present

Table 9: Fish species recovered from Troitsky excavations (NISP)Site Sturgeon Pike Cyprinid Wels Zander Perch Ruff e Eel Total Id Unid. Total

Troitsky 9 16 26 8 25 9 84 44 128

Troitsky 10 18 9 8 32 1 68 22 90

Troitsky 11 Lower 1 143 117 38 176 5 480 286 766

Troitsky 11 Middle 2 24 23 4 47 2 102 47 149

Troitsky 11 Top 1 12 33 35 81 77 158

Troitsky 9-11 Total 4 213 208 58 315 17 0 0 815 476 1291

Hand-collected % 0,5 26,1 25,5 7,1 38,7 2,1 0,0 0,0 63,1 36,9

Troitsky Sieved 238 900 2 262 89 2 3 1496 3124 4620

Troitsky Sieved % 0,0 15,9 60,2 0,1 17,5 5,9 0,1 0,2 32,4 67,6

See Appendix 1 for full list of species identified


locally now. These highly-prized species were regarded

as luxury items and it is likely that sturgeons were traded

to Novgorod. Many of the large catfish could also have

been imported. The presence of eel bones does reveal the

presence of imported preserved fish, possibly from the

Baltic.

Comparisons with other assemblages from the

Novgorod region can be found in Hamilton-Dyer (2002)

and Maltby (2012). The samples from Gorodishche and

Minino have been sieved and fish bones have been found

in abundance. Fish undoubtedly also played quite a sig-

nificant role in the diet of the residents of Novgorod it-

self. Comparisons with other assemblages from Russia

and the Baltic will be made in Maltby (In press).

Conclusions

The preliminary analysis of animal bones from

Novgorod has established that there were significant

variations in the exploitation of animals within its re-

gion and between different periods. The inhabitants of

Novgorod consumed many of the same species of ani-

mals as those eaten elsewhere in north-eastern Europe

but there seem to have been notable variations. For ex-

ample, they ate more beef than many of their contempo-

raries in other towns. Goats may have been as important

as sheep as a meat resource. Indeed, lamb and mutton

was much less important than in most medieval towns.

Amongst the bird assemblage, although chickens were

kept in Novgorod, wild ducks and large landfowl appear

to have been exploited more commonly than in other

areas. Novgorodians were not averse to supplementing

their diet with horsemeat and beaver flesh, at least until

the latter became a rare commodity. Wild mammals in

general provided only a small portion of the diet. There

is evidence that eggs and dairy produce probably became

more prevalent in the diet in the later medieval period.

The vast importance of the fur trade is, however, not re-

flected in the bone assemblages from Novgorod itself.

There is no doubt that zooarchaeological studies can

aid the interpretation of the lives of residents of medieval

Novgorod. There is great potential for further research.

More detailed intra-site comparisons are required to

study variations in the diet of different groups within

the town. For example, did the Gotlander and German

merchants resident in Novgorod have different dietary

preferences to the local boyars? More detailed examina-

tion of the distribution of bones within individual prop-

erties could provide further insights into how space was

utilised within them. Possible chronological variations

also need further investigation. To answer these and oth-

er questions, there needs to be a significant increase in

sieving and a sampling policy that allows assemblages

from different parts of the same properties to be record-

ed separately and in sufficient detail.

The superb archaeological resource available at

Novgorod provides excellent opportunities to study ani-

mal bones alongside other forms of evidence. Evidence

from documents, artwork, property layouts, wooden ob-

jects, metal objects, lipid residues on ceramics, insect re-

mains, plant macrofossils, and leather, antler and bone

objects and associated production waste can all contrib-

ute to our understanding of how animals were exploited

in different parts of the town. To understand the com-

plexity of life in Novgorod and other medieval towns, we

need to develop a more holistic approach to target spe-

cific research questions.

Acknowledgements

My thanks go to the organisers of the Kaliningrad

conference for their invitation to present this paper. I am

indebted to Arkady Savinetskii and Andrei Zinoviev for

providing me with data from Minino and other Russian

assemblages. Thanks also to all those who helped to record

the bone assemblages from Novgorod, particularly Sheila

Hamilton-Dyer, who identified and recorded all the bird

and fish bones as well as many of the mammal bones.

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Appendix 1. Species found in Novgorod and other Sites in the Region

MammalsCattle (Bos taurus)

Pig (Sus scrofa)

Sheep (Ovis aries)

Goat (Capra hircus)

Horse (Equus caballus)

Dog (Canis familiaris)

Cat (Felis catus)

Elk (Alces alces)

Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus)

Wolf (Canis lupus)

Hare (Lepus sp.)

Beaver (Castor fiber)

Stoat (Mustela ermina)

Squirrel (Scirius vulgaris)

BirdsMallard (Anas platyrhynchos)

Teal (Anas crecca)

cf. Pochard (cf. Aythya ferina)

cf. Wigeon (cf. Anas penelope)

cf. Goldeneye (cf. Bucephala clangula)

cf. Garganey (cf. Anas querquedula)

Goose cf. greylag (cf. Anser anser)

Swan (Cygnus sp.)

Crane (Grus grus)

Stork (Ciconia sp.)

Heron (Ardea cinerea)

cf. Woodcock (cf. Scolopax rusticola)

cf. Snipe (cf. Gallinago gallinago)

Coot (Fulica atra)

Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo)

Gull (Larus sp.)

Domestic fowl (Gallus gallus)

Capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus)

Black grouse (Tetrao tetrix)

Hazel hen (Bonasa bonasia)

Great-crested grebe (Podiceps cristatus)

Woodpigeon (Columba palumbus)

Partridge (Perdix perdix)

Eagle cf. white-tailed (cf. Haliaeetus albicilla)

Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus)


Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis)

Hobby (Falco subbuteo)

Hen harrier (Circus cyaneus)

Owl cf. tawny (cf. Strix aluco)

Buzzard (Buteo buteo)

Raven (Corvus corax)

Rook/Crow (Corvus frugilegus/corone)

Jackdaw (Corvus monedula)

cf. Jay (cf. Garrulus glandarius)

FishCyprinidae (Bream family) including

Bream (Abramis brama)

Roach (Rutilus rutilus)

Dace (Leuciscus leuciscus) and/or

Chub (Leuciscus cephalus)

Ide (Leuciscus idus)

Silver bream (Blicca bjoerkna)

Pike (Esox luscus)

Zander (Sander (Stizostedion) lucioper-ca),

Perch (Perca fluviatilis)

Wels (catfish) (Siluris glanis)

Whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus)

Sturgeon (Acipenser sturio)

Common eel (Anguilla anguilla)

Ruffe (Gymnocephalus cernuus)

Марк МолтбиИспользование животных в городах

средневековой торговой системы Балтики: на примере Новгорода

РезюмеВ статье рассматриваются данные, касающиеся

использования животных в средневековом Новго-

роде в Северо-Западной Руси в сравнении с други-

ми центрами северо-восточной Европы. Несмотря

на некоторые проблемы, связанные с поиском и от-

бором образцов, раскопки в Новгороде предостав-

ляют базу для глубокого изучения системы питания

жителей города и значения различных продуктов

животного происхождения. В статье рассматрива-

ются домашние и дикие млекопитающие, птицы

и рыбы, главным образом на основе материалов

Троицкого раскопа, но с привлечением соответ-

ствующих материалов из других раскопов города

и прилегающей территории, а также с выборкой

данных из прочих городов Руси и восточной Бал-

тии. По сравнению с населением большинства дру-

гих городов новгородцы, по-видимому, употребля-

ли больше говядины и других продуктов крупного

рогатого скота. Отличается Новгород и большим

количеством некоторых других пород. Однако

роль Новгорода в международной торговле мехами

не нашла отражения в наборе костей, найденных

на территории города, но очевидна в других фау-

нистических коллекциях региона и в других архе-

ологических свидетельствах. В статье даются реко-

мендации, как можно развить эти предварительные

исследования в более подробный анализ роли жи-

вотных в таких городах как Новгород.

Summary translated by L. Golofast

maltby kaliningrad

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