Finds of West-European coins of the 11th — early 12th century at Novgorod (Rurik’s) Gorodishche

This paper is a publication of West-European denarii of the 11th — early 12th century and their imita- tions provenient from the territory of Novgorod Gorodishche (Rurik’s Hillfort). All the known coins are discussed — both those yielded by archaeological excavations (8 items) and single finds by private persons (13 items). The new numismatic materials expand and supplement the available information on the earliest and very important trade-handicraft and military-administrative centre of the Lake Ilmen region.

Novgorod musical-epic tradition - the possibilities of reconstruction

The author is the first to raise the problem of reconstruction of the musical-epic traditions of Novgorod region. The research object is chant-declamation forms of folklore, typologically related to the bylina tradition. The research subject is their structural and stylistic peculiarities. For the first time, all facts of existence of musical epos, recorded in Novgorod region by various collectors, are gathered in one source - from the auditory notations of A.K. Lyadov (1890) to the latest evidence of existence of the musical-epic tradition (the recordings of Leningrad - St.Petersburg conservatory of the 1980s - 1990s). As the materials for comparison, the author uses the folklore images from Vologda, Arkhangelsk and Tver regions. Some musical texts are published for the first time. The author defines the genre composition of the musical-epic area of Novgorod folklore (buffoonery and takes, ballads, spiritual poems and memorial songs), describes the forms of composition of the main samples (one-line verses, long speeches and strophical). The research material gives reasons to assume that in Novgorod folklore traditions of the late 19th - the 20th centuries, the forms of recitation of music were widespread, typologically related to two North-Russian styles - the symbolic brief-chant and rhapsodical. The author concludes that the lake Ilmen basin and the adjacent territories was one of the places where these styles had been forming. On the one hand, the discovery of the typological relation of Novgorod and the North-Russian forms of musical narration helps define the structure and evaluate the style of single facts of Novgorod folklore. On the other hand, the parallels found are of key importance for the confirmation of Novgorod origins of the North-Russian bylina traditions.   

The correlation of the environmental dynamics of the southeastern periphery of the Poo zer ye (Valdai) glaciation in the Late Glacial and Holocene

The landscape-climatic reconstruction in the southeastern sector of the last Scandinavian (Poozerye (Valdai)) glaciation was carried out within transect in the direction from Lake Naroch (Belarus) to the Lake Ilmen (Russia) based on palynological, isotopic and radiocarbon data. The first stage of deglaciation of the territory located between the maximum Orsha (Ostashkov) stage and the Vepsian-Krestetskiy marginal formations lasted from 20.0 to 15.5 cal. ka BP. The onset of lake sedimentogenesis in this region dates from the final stages of the Pleniglacial (16.5–15.5 cal. ka BP). The vegetation cover about 14.7 cal. ka BP represented by grass-shrub tundra. At the beginning of the Belling-Allered interstadial, there was an active expansion of tree species (birch, pine) to the north, following the retreating glacier. At the end of the Allered (13.3 cal. ka BP), open pine forests with birch dominated in the north of Belarus, and birch and pine-birch in the neighboring regions of Russia. The beginning of the expansion of spruce, both in Belarus and in the northwestern regions of Russia, dates from 13.2 cal. ka BP, which is comparable with the oscillation of Herzensee (GI-1b). Late Dryas cooling characterized by the spread of herb-forest-tundra landscapes, in which, apart from pine and birch, spruce played a significant role. The boundary Late Glacial ‒ Holocene (about 11.5 cal. ka BP) is marked by a decrease in the content of spruce pollen, shrubs of tundra and grass. According to isotopic and palynological data during the Holocene, revealed episodes of cooling. Changes in vegetation occurred in the following sequence: birch and pine-birch forests (11.5‒10.0 cal. ka BP), mixed birch-pine with the participation of broadleaved species (10.0 ‒8.0 cal. ka BP), coniferous-broadleaved (8.0 ‒5.8 cal. ka BP), broadleaved ‒ dark coniferous (5.8‒2.7 cal. ka BP), dark coniferous and oak ‒ dark coniferous with birch forests (2.7 cal. ka BP ‒ modern stage).

Staraya Ladoga, SEM investigations of plant remains from palaeosols separated by deposits of the Ladoga transgression. New materials and old problems

This paper presents the results of SEM-examination of palynological complexes of two paleosols at the base of the Staraya Ladoga section. There was obtained evidence of the floodplain genesis of the paleosol directly under- lying the cultural layer of Zemlyanoye hillfort. A new palynological marker has been identified here which enables us to ground the synchronous character of the end of the Ladoga Transgression (in the southern Ladoga region) and the regression of Lake Ilmen (in the northwestern region).

Interannual variability of the lake levels in northwest Russia based on satellite altimetry

Variability of the largest lakes levels in northwest Russia, a climatic change parameter, is characterized by alternating periods of rise and fall according to altimetric measurements of the TOPEX/Poseidon and Jason-1/2 satellites. Water level was calculated with the use of a regional adaptive retracking algorithm for the lakes Il’men, Ladoga, Onega and Peipus. Applications of this algorithm considerably increase the quantity of actual data records and significantly improve the accuracy of water level evaluation. According to the results, temporal variability of Lake Ilmen, Lake Ladoga and Lake Piepus levels is characterized by a wave with a period of 4–5 years, and that of Lake Onega level is characterized by a wave with a period of 15 years. During the period from 1993 to 2011, lake level rose at a rate of 1.17±0.95 cm/year for Lake Il’men, 0.24 ± 0.10 cm/year for Lake Ladoga, 1.39 ± 0.18 cm/year for Lake Piepus and 0.18 ± 0.09 cm/year for Lake Onega.