A sword guard from the excavation site in Bolshaya Moskovskaya street in Veliky Novgorod
In 2014, thousands of various objects of the 11th-19th centuries were found in Veliky Novgorod at the excavation site (Bolshaya Moskovskaya St., 30). On the estate area, an underground pit of rectangular shape was revealed with dimensions of 200 × 120 cm and deepened 150 cm into the layer. The pit walls were lined with wide half-beams inserted into the grooves in logs located at the corners of the pit. According to the data of dendrochronological analysis, this structure was built in 1188 and lasted until the early 13th century. Filling of this basement among other objects, including those manufactured in Western Europe, produced a sword guard. It fits into a representative series of weapons decorated with a silver inlay in the form of spirals and palmettes, found mostly in Finland and Karelia. A narrow dating of the archaeological context of the find is essential to determine the chronology of the existence of swords decorated in this way.