Medieval Novgorod: epitome of early urban life in northern Europe

T he small Russian town of Nov gorod (literally "new town"; Fig. 1 ) is situated on the River Volkhov between Moscow and St Petersburg. It has been a source of inspiration to medieval urban archaeologists across Europe since large scale excavations started there in the 1 950s. They have continued ever since and Novgorod's influence can be seen, for ex ample, in the classic series of excavations carried out by the British archaeologist Martin Biddle at Winchester in the 1 960s. Archaeological investigations are now car ried out under the auspices of the N ovgorod Archaeological Expedition of Moscow Uni versity and the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences; and re cently the Russian archaeologists have been joined by British colleagues from Bourne mouth University and the UCL Institute of Archaeology. Finds from medieval Novgorod