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Medieval Monks Meet Modern Science

This project uses genetics to unlock the secrets of medieval parchment books and their makers.

Published onFeb 15, 2022
Medieval Monks Meet Modern Science
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Scene depicting parchment dealer selling to scribe.

The Hamburg Bible, AD 1255.


Description

The main goal of this project is to leverage recent developments in genetic techniques to advance the study of medieval parchment books. Parchment represents an unparalleled archeological resource for a wide variety of science and humanities fields because it provides an untapped reservoir of millions of samples from over a thousand-year period containing evidence of book production practices, human-animal interaction, and agricultural history. Recent advances in genetic techniques permit the nondestructive sampling of these cultural heritage artifacts for the first time in history. This proposal offers NCSU an opportunity to be a pioneer in this emerging interdisciplinary field via a team with complementary research interests and proven records of success in relevant disciplines.

How I Think and Do: Medievalist Tim Stinson. Video courtesy of NC State College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Image showing the steps of parchment making, including soaking in lime, removing hair, stretching, scraping, and preparing for writing.

The steps of parchment making.

An image depicting a skin tightly stretched on a wooden rectangular frame.

Image of stretched parchment drying.

A medieval manuscript illumination depicting parchment stretched on a wooden frame and a man scraping it with a curved blade.

Medieval parchment maker, Stadtbibliothek Nürnberg, Amb. 317.2°, fol. 35r.

 Image showing collection of samples by rubbing a PVC eraser on a medieval manuscript book.

Timothy Stinson taking samples using a PVC eraser at the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.

Close-up image of a cytology brush. NCSU faculty pioneered a technique of collecting DNA samples from parchment using cytology brushes such as the one depicted.

NCSU faculty pioneered a technique of collecting DNA samples from parchment using cytology brushes such as the one depicted.

Diagram showing the distribution of leaves in Duke University Library, MS Latin 103 and the species of origin; most leaves are sheepskin.

Diagram showing distribution of species in Duke University Library, MS Latin 103.

Project Creator or Project Team Name

Matthew Breen (CVM), Benjamin Callahan (CVM), Kelly Meiklejohn (CVM), Melissa Scheible (CVM), Timothy Stinson (CHASS), and Rachael Thomas (CVM).

This project features a highly interdisciplinary team from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the College of Veterinary Medicine. Areas of expertise of team members include forensic biology, medieval studies, computational biology, and comparative genetics and genomics.

Above: Logos of College of Humanities and Social Sciences and College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University.

Institutional affiliation/s

North Carolina State University, College of Humanities and Social Sciences and College of Veterinary Medicine

Years active

2020 to present

Keywords/Tags

Genetics, Science and humanities, Manuscript studies, Book history

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