The Gusli is one of the oldest musical instruments that have played an important role in the Russian music culture. Vertkov states that the first mentions of the Gusli date back to 591 AD to a treatise by the Greek historian Theophylact Simocatta which describes the instrument being used by Slavs from the area of the later Kievan Rus’ kingdom. The first documented gusli were recorded in 1170 in Veliky Novgorod in Novgorodian Rus’. The gusli are thought to have been the instrument used by the legendary Boyan (a singer of tales) described in the Lay of Igor’s campaign. The instruments were used by the wandering Skomorokh musicians and entertainers. Preserved instruments discovered by archaeologists in various digs have between five and nine strings with one example having twelve strings.