Animal origin of 13th-century uterine vellum revealed using non-invasive peptide fingerprinting

Sarah Fiddyment; Bruce Holsinger; Chiara Ruzzier; Alexander  Devine; Annelise Binois; Umberto Albarella; Roman Fischer; Emma Nichols; Antoinette  Curtis; Edward  Cheese; Matthew David Teasdale; Caroline Checkley-Scott; Steven J. Milner; Kathryn M. Rudy; Eric J.  Johnson; Jiri Vnoucek; Mary Garrison; Simon McGrory; Daniel G. Bradley; Matthew James Collins

doi:10.1073/pnas.1512264112

Animal origin of 13th-century uterine vellum revealed using non-invasive peptide fingerprinting

Sarah Fiddyment, Bruce Holsinger, Chiara Ruzzier, Alexander Devine, Annelise Binois, Umberto Albarella, Roman Fischer, Emma Nichols, Antoinette Curtis, Edward Cheese, Matthew David Teasdale, Caroline Checkley-Scott, Steven J. Milner, Kathryn M. Rudy, Eric J. Johnson, Jiri Vnoucek, Mary Garrison, Simon McGrory, Daniel G. Bradley, Matthew James Collins

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Tissue-thin parchment made it possible to produce the first pocket Bibles: Thousands were made in the 13th century. The source of this parchment, often called “uterine vellum,” has been a long-standing controversy in codicology. Use of the Latin term abortivum in many sources has led some scholars to suggest that the skin of fetal calves or sheep was used. Others have argued that it would not be possi- ble to sustain herds if so many pocket Bibles were produced from fetal skins, arguing instead for unexpected alternatives, such as rabbit. Here, we report a simple and objective technique using stan- dard conservation treatments to identify the animal origin of parch- ment. The noninvasive method is a variant on zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry (ZooMS) peptide mass fingerprinting but ex- tracts protein from the parchment surface by using an electrostatic charge generated by gentle rubbing of a PVC eraser on the mem- brane surface. Using this method, we analyzed 72 pocket Bibles originating in France, England, and Italy and 293 additional parch- ment samples that bracket this period. We found no evidence for the use of unexpected animals; however, we did identify the use of more than one mammal species in a single manuscript, consistent with the local availability of hides. These results suggest that ultra- fine vellum does not necessarily derive from the use of abortive or newborn animals with ultrathin hides, but could equally well reflect a production process that allowed the skins of maturing animals of several species to be rendered into vellum of equal quality and fineness.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	15066-15071
Number of pages	6
Journal	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume	112
Issue number	49
Early online date	23 Nov 2015
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1512264112
Publication status	Published - 8 Dec 2015

Keywords

pocket Bible | parchment | vellum | collagen | mass spectrometry

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10.1073/pnas.1512264112

http://www.pnas.org/content/112/49/15066.short

Sarah Fiddyment
- sf791york.acuk
- Archaeology - Research Fellow, Former employee
Person: Research

Cite this

Fiddyment, S., Holsinger, B., Ruzzier, C., Devine, A., Binois, A., Albarella, U., Fischer, R., Nichols, E., Curtis, A., Cheese, E., Teasdale, M. D., Checkley-Scott, C., Milner, S. J., Rudy, K. M., Johnson, E. J., Vnoucek, J., Garrison, M., McGrory, S., G. Bradley, D., & Collins, M. J. (2015). Animal origin of 13th-century uterine vellum revealed using non-invasive peptide fingerprinting. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 112(49), 15066-15071. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1512264112

@article{809847796036426988b2885bdc0e24de,

title = "Animal origin of 13th-century uterine vellum revealed using non-invasive peptide fingerprinting",

abstract = "Tissue-thin parchment made it possible to produce the first pocket Bibles: Thousands were made in the 13th century. The source of this parchment, often called “uterine vellum,” has been a long-standing controversy in codicology. Use of the Latin term abortivum in many sources has led some scholars to suggest that the skin of fetal calves or sheep was used. Others have argued that it would not be possi- ble to sustain herds if so many pocket Bibles were produced from fetal skins, arguing instead for unexpected alternatives, such as rabbit. Here, we report a simple and objective technique using stan- dard conservation treatments to identify the animal origin of parch- ment. The noninvasive method is a variant on zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry (ZooMS) peptide mass fingerprinting but ex- tracts protein from the parchment surface by using an electrostatic charge generated by gentle rubbing of a PVC eraser on the mem- brane surface. Using this method, we analyzed 72 pocket Bibles originating in France, England, and Italy and 293 additional parch- ment samples that bracket this period. We found no evidence for the use of unexpected animals; however, we did identify the use of more than one mammal species in a single manuscript, consistent with the local availability of hides. These results suggest that ultra- fine vellum does not necessarily derive from the use of abortive or newborn animals with ultrathin hides, but could equally well reflect a production process that allowed the skins of maturing animals of several species to be rendered into vellum of equal quality and fineness.",

keywords = "pocket Bible | parchment | vellum | collagen | mass spectrometry",

author = "Sarah Fiddyment and Bruce Holsinger and Chiara Ruzzier and Alexander Devine and Annelise Binois and Umberto Albarella and Roman Fischer and Emma Nichols and Antoinette Curtis and Edward Cheese and Teasdale, {Matthew David} and Caroline Checkley-Scott and Milner, {Steven J.} and Rudy, {Kathryn M.} and Johnson, {Eric J.} and Jiri Vnoucek and Mary Garrison and Simon McGrory and {G. Bradley}, Daniel and Collins, {Matthew James}",

year = "2015",

month = dec,

day = "8",

doi = "10.1073/pnas.1512264112",

language = "English",

volume = "112",

pages = "15066--15071",

journal = "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America",

issn = "0027-8424",

publisher = "National Academy of Sciences",

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Fiddyment, S, Holsinger, B, Ruzzier, C, Devine, A, Binois, A, Albarella, U, Fischer, R, Nichols, E, Curtis, A, Cheese, E, Teasdale, MD, Checkley-Scott, C, Milner, SJ, Rudy, KM, Johnson, EJ, Vnoucek, J, Garrison, M, McGrory, S, G. Bradley, D & Collins, MJ 2015, 'Animal origin of 13th-century uterine vellum revealed using non-invasive peptide fingerprinting', Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 112, no. 49, pp. 15066-15071. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1512264112

TY - JOUR

T1 - Animal origin of 13th-century uterine vellum revealed using non-invasive peptide fingerprinting

AU - Fiddyment, Sarah

AU - Holsinger, Bruce

AU - Ruzzier, Chiara

AU - Devine, Alexander

AU - Binois, Annelise

AU - Albarella, Umberto

AU - Fischer, Roman

AU - Nichols, Emma

AU - Curtis, Antoinette

AU - Cheese, Edward

AU - Teasdale, Matthew David

AU - Checkley-Scott, Caroline

AU - Milner, Steven J.

AU - Rudy, Kathryn M.

AU - Johnson, Eric J.

AU - Vnoucek, Jiri

AU - Garrison, Mary

AU - McGrory, Simon

AU - G. Bradley, Daniel

AU - Collins, Matthew James

PY - 2015/12/8

Y1 - 2015/12/8

N2 - Tissue-thin parchment made it possible to produce the first pocket Bibles: Thousands were made in the 13th century. The source of this parchment, often called “uterine vellum,” has been a long-standing controversy in codicology. Use of the Latin term abortivum in many sources has led some scholars to suggest that the skin of fetal calves or sheep was used. Others have argued that it would not be possi- ble to sustain herds if so many pocket Bibles were produced from fetal skins, arguing instead for unexpected alternatives, such as rabbit. Here, we report a simple and objective technique using stan- dard conservation treatments to identify the animal origin of parch- ment. The noninvasive method is a variant on zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry (ZooMS) peptide mass fingerprinting but ex- tracts protein from the parchment surface by using an electrostatic charge generated by gentle rubbing of a PVC eraser on the mem- brane surface. Using this method, we analyzed 72 pocket Bibles originating in France, England, and Italy and 293 additional parch- ment samples that bracket this period. We found no evidence for the use of unexpected animals; however, we did identify the use of more than one mammal species in a single manuscript, consistent with the local availability of hides. These results suggest that ultra- fine vellum does not necessarily derive from the use of abortive or newborn animals with ultrathin hides, but could equally well reflect a production process that allowed the skins of maturing animals of several species to be rendered into vellum of equal quality and fineness.

AB - Tissue-thin parchment made it possible to produce the first pocket Bibles: Thousands were made in the 13th century. The source of this parchment, often called “uterine vellum,” has been a long-standing controversy in codicology. Use of the Latin term abortivum in many sources has led some scholars to suggest that the skin of fetal calves or sheep was used. Others have argued that it would not be possi- ble to sustain herds if so many pocket Bibles were produced from fetal skins, arguing instead for unexpected alternatives, such as rabbit. Here, we report a simple and objective technique using stan- dard conservation treatments to identify the animal origin of parch- ment. The noninvasive method is a variant on zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry (ZooMS) peptide mass fingerprinting but ex- tracts protein from the parchment surface by using an electrostatic charge generated by gentle rubbing of a PVC eraser on the mem- brane surface. Using this method, we analyzed 72 pocket Bibles originating in France, England, and Italy and 293 additional parch- ment samples that bracket this period. We found no evidence for the use of unexpected animals; however, we did identify the use of more than one mammal species in a single manuscript, consistent with the local availability of hides. These results suggest that ultra- fine vellum does not necessarily derive from the use of abortive or newborn animals with ultrathin hides, but could equally well reflect a production process that allowed the skins of maturing animals of several species to be rendered into vellum of equal quality and fineness.

KW - pocket Bible | parchment | vellum | collagen | mass spectrometry

U2 - 10.1073/pnas.1512264112

DO - 10.1073/pnas.1512264112

M3 - Article

C2 - 26598667

SN - 0027-8424

VL - 112

SP - 15066

EP - 15071

JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

IS - 49

ER -

Animal origin of 13th-century uterine vellum revealed using non-invasive peptide fingerprinting

Abstract

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Sarah Fiddyment

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