[On the history of the spread of the black rat (Rattus rattus L., 1758) in northwestern Russia].

Data on the first reliable findings of subfossil remains of the black rat in north-western Russia (Vologda and Vladimir oblasts) are given. The burying of the remains dates to the twelfth to thirteenth centuries. It is assumed that the spread of the black rat in the European part of Russia in the Middle Ages was associated first of all with the development of trade.