53
Birch bark letter found in Novgorod, suggesting relatively high literacy rates in the surrounds, 12th-14th century AD?
(lemmy.world)
this post was submitted on 12 Dec 2024
53 points (100.0% liked)
Historical Artifacts
688 readers
133 users here now
Just a community for everyone to share artifacts, reconstructions, or replicas for the historically-inclined to admire!
Generally, an artifact should be 100+ years old, but this is a flexible requirement if you find something rare and suitably linked to an era of history, not a strict rule. Anything over 100 is fair game regardless of rarity.
Generally speaking, ruins should go to [email protected]
Illustrations of the past should go to [email protected]
Photos of the past should go to [email protected]
founded 7 months ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/birch-bark-letters-001806
One of the reasons the birch bark manuscripts were so important in re-evaluating the literacy rates of medieval Novgorod is because birch bark is not particularly valuable or durable, making it a poor trade good. Amongst other factors, that suggests that the use of birch bark was predominantly by the poor and lower middle class, who would ordinarily be expected to be illiterate.
Fascinating stuff!