Novgorodians manufactured metal, leather, and wood products for export and domestic use. The city bustled with workshops and markets. Raw materials flowed in from overseas and finished products flowed out.
Salt was a rare commodity. In Novgorod, as early as 1136, salt was harvested from ocean water by evaporation.(1) It was manufactured by boiling sea water, harvested from crystallized lakebeds and dug out of mines in Galicia. The parts of Russia far from the sea traded for salt.(2)
Iron was mined throughout Rus', while other metals were imported: copper and tin from the Caucasus and Asia Minor; lead from Bohemia; silver from the Urals, the Caucasus, Bohemia and Byzantium; and gold from Byzantium and the Kumans. Metallurgy was practiced at an advanced level, with high quality steel produced.(3) Excavated objects show a great variety of metalworking techniques: including casting, drawing, rolling, hammering, stamping, engraving, impressing, soldering, gilding, grooving, annealing, grinding and polishing.(4)
Tools were the most important metal products. In Novgorod, as in all of Russia, axes were nearly universal. Also common were knives for cooking, skinning, joinery, shoemaking and warfare, as well as razors for shaving. Other metal tools included smith's tools: tongs, hammers, files, and cold chisels-all both in full-size and miniature for jewelers. Wood working tools-besides axes-included adzes, saws, and drills. Sewing and leather working tools included awls, scissors, shears, needles, and dressing tools. Fishing and farm tools were manufactured, as were padlocks, chains, and keys. Furnishings for artificial lighting included oil lamps, candle holders, and the iron strike-a-lights used with flints to start fires. Other metal objects were balances and scales, cloak pins, nails, and styli for writing in wax.(5)
Novgorod manufactured tools and other
products out of wood as well. City
dwellers owned lathes, looms, mills, and churns. They turned bowls, dishes,
and plates on their lathes. The craftsmen of Novgorod built wooden barrels,
buckets and jugs, carved furniture, and table wear. Leatherwork also played
an important role. Shoes, boots, belts, and harnesses were made for export
and domestic use. Leather cases were manufactured for axes, scissors, and
combs. Many other items were crafted: combs and spoons from bone, toys from
wood, and boxes from birch bark.(6)
Simple ceramics made in Novgorod included pots, bowls, and jugs. Thrown on
a potter's wheel, they were either left unglazed or glazed in green, brown
or yellow. The Mongols introduced Golden Horde pottery to the town, which
was characterized by a rose-colored clay body with an azure or green glaze.
A third source of ceramics were the fine imported Persian products. These
featured a white clay body, painted with cobalt or manganese glazes, often
decorated with the Arabic characters for "success" or such good luck
symbols as a peacock.(7)
Glass manufacture in Novgorod was limited to bangles and beads. Window glass and vessels were imported from Kiev, while larger and finer items came from Byzantium.(8)
(1)Smith, p. 27.
(2)Vernadsky, Kievan Russia, p. 112.
(3)Ibid.
(4)Thompson, p. 73.
(5)Ibid, p. 73-74.
(6)Ibid, p. 98.
(7)Ibid, p. 94.
(8)Ibid, p. 93.