Novgorod archaeologists: Scouts reburied medieval remains

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The mass grave of elders, women and children found in Shimsky District Novgorod Region, Russia, is dated back to 13-14^th centuries, a REGNUM correspondent was told today at Novgorod Antiquity Club. According to the archaeologists, the grave is a medieval “zhalnik” (a Slavic grave). The experts say the grave was not made at a time: it was a cemetery that grew stage by stage.

The archaeologists say they knew long ago about the zhalnik. Since 1984, it has been under protection as a federal archaeological site and listed in the register of Novgorod Region historical and cultural sites, “Absence of coordination of archaeologists and the scouts from Dolina expedition resulted in serious damage to the grave,” the experts said.

As REGNUM reported earlier, the Dolina scouts found a grave near the village of Khotyn last autumn, and several days ago they exhumed the remains. On May 6, remains of 32 children and 56 women and elderly people were reburied in the village of Malye Ugorody. The scouts suppose that there was a mass shooting or burning of people on the same place in the Great Patriotic War.