Spoiled Grain or Burnt Malt? The Discovery of a Bulk Grain Assemblage at the Ioannovsky Excavation Site in 2022

The article presents the materials of a comprehensive study of the accumulation of carbonized rye grains, discovered in 2022 during excavations of part of the territory of the German courtyard — the compound of Hanseatic merchants in Veliky Novgorod. Grains of other cereals are also present in the accumulation in small quantities. The bulk grain was located entirely within the log house, and its volume was about 500 liters. Dendrochronological studies of the nearby pavement make it possible to date the complex to the middle of the 14th century. A large proportion of grains that began to germinate, as well as some weed species in the cluster, may indirectly indicate that rye was in the process of malting before combustion. A comprehensive analysis of written sources, archaeological, and archeobotanical data cautiously suggests that this cluster might be evidence of brewing in the German courtyard