Medieval Hoard Discovered Beneath Russian Museum

News December 31, 2014

(© Institute of Archaeology, Russian Academy of Sciences)
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(© Institute of Archaeology, Russian Academy of Sciences)

TVER, RUSSIA—During excavations conducted in conjunction with the restoration of the Tver State Museum in western Russia, archaeologists discovered a medieval silver hoard lying just six feet below the office of the museum's general director. Buried in a small hole covered with ceramics sometime during the Mongol invasions of the mid-thirteenth century, the hoard contained silver headdresses, chains, beads, and pendants, among other items. According to RU Facts, archaeologists believe the jewelry may have belonged to a Tver noblewoman who died in the assault on the city or was otherwise unable to retrieve her precious cache. The hoard narrowly missed being discovered in the fifteenth century, when the area on which the museum now sits was leveled and workers may have come within less than five inches of the jewlery. To read about another recently unearthed cache, see "Viking Hoard Unearthed in Scotland."

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