Cel
It is the purpose of the project to continue the ongoing interdisciplinary research into the Medieval Russian birchbark documents dating from the eleventh to the fifteenth century, which constitute a most valuable source for the history, culture and language of the East Slavic peoples, and to develop a system of electronic resources for their study and conservation. In the course of the execution of the project the following tasks will be addressed: publication and overall analysis of the birchbark documents unearthed and to be unearthed at the ongoing excavations in Novgorod (2002 and following years); supplementary research, intended to refine datings, readings, translations, and interpretations of birchbark documents from past excavations, research into various aspects of birchbark literacy on the basis of the entire corpus of birchbark documents. An important part of the project is the construction of a system of electronic resources 'Medieval Russian Documents on Birchbark'. The results of the project, comprising a complete collection of photographs, a data base and a series of articles, will be represented as a website and as a CD-ROM. The realization of the project will constitute a qualitative leap forward in the development of the study of birchbark documents by laying a reliable foundation for the further research into the texts and rendering the material accessible to an international medievalist audience of different backgrounds.