A Medieval dog tag is among the 12 birch bark documents and more than 2,000 artefacts that were found during a recent excavation at the Unesco World Heritage Site of Veliky Novgorod in north-western Russia. A report by the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences says that the objects, which date from the 12th to the 14th centuries, were found in the remains of two mansions that were being excavated before the construction of a new building. Since 1951, digs in the city’s historical centre have uncovered more than 1,000 birch bark documents, offering a window into Medieval Russian life. “I am a puppy” was inscribed on the birch tag. Another document carried the text message-style inscription: “From Gavrila to Kondrat. Come here.”
