Archaeologists in Veliky Novgorod, at an excavation site near the Tithes Monastery, made an unusual find - in the layers of the 12th century, they found a plant, the species of which experts cannot yet determine, a source in the Novgorod archaeological expedition told RIA Novosti on Sunday
“What it is, archaeologists do not yet know, and there are no even assumptions yet. A plant cannot even be compared with anything known - it has different seeds, it has everything else in general. The plant looks like a lentil, but it's still not a lentil, most of all it looks like an ear of corn. However, corn was brought to Europe from America in the 15th century and, in theory, it could not have ended up in Veliky Novgorod three centuries earlier,”the agency's source said.
According to the source, archaeologists working at the Tithes excavation initially suggested that it was still corn, later brought into the layers of the 12th century by rodents.
“However, no traces of rodent activity or any external interference in the cultural layers were found, archaeologists would certainly have seen them, so the mystery remains a mystery,” the agency's source said.
It is assumed that later the mysterious "ear" will be handed over to plant breeders for study, who, perhaps, will offer some versions of its appearance in layers almost 1000 years ago.
Excavations on the territory of the Tithes Monastery in Veliky Novgorod began for Novgorod archeology unprecedentedly early - in mid-March.
Research is carried out by specialists from the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow), the excavations are supervised by a researcher of the institute, candidate of historical sciences Oleg Oleinikov.
Archaeologists have to explore an area of almost 3 thousand square meters.
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Scientists consider the excavations to be very promising.
During the research at the Tithe excavation, archaeologists made a large number of remarkable finds, including weapons and household items, jewelry and coins, among which were Old Russian, European and Arab, as well as about 200 so-called hanging lead seals, which in ancient times were used to fasten important documents.
At the excavation site, the researchers discovered a log structure going about three meters into the ground, which, according to their assumptions, was the oldest known Russian prison building.
It is assumed that the work at the Tithe Monastery will continue for several more months.