The York Gospels: a 1000-year biological palimpsest

TY - JOUR

T1 - The York Gospels

T2 - a 1000-year biological palimpsest

AU - Teasdale, Matthew D

AU - Fiddyment, Sarah

AU - Vnouček, Jiří

AU - Mattiangeli, Valeria

AU - Speller, Camilla

AU - Binois, Annelise

AU - Carver, Martin

AU - Dand, Catherine

AU - Newfield, Timothy P

AU - Webb, Christopher C

AU - G. Bradley, Daniel

AU - Collins, Matthew J

N1 - © 2017 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society.

PY - 2017/10/25

Y1 - 2017/10/25

N2 - Medieval manuscripts, carefully curated and conserved, represent not only an irreplaceable documentary record but also a remarkable reservoir of biological information. Palaeographic and codicological investigation can often locate and date these documents with remarkable precision. The York Gospels (York Minster Ms. Add. 1) is one such codex, one of only a small collection of pre-conquest Gospel books to have survived the Reformation. By extending the non-invasive triboelectric (eraser-based) sampling technique eZooMS, to include the analysis of DNA, we report a cost-effective and simple-to-use biomolecular sampling technique for parchment. We apply this combined methodology to document for the first time a rich palimpsest of biological information contained within the York Gospels, which has accumulated over the 1000-year lifespan of this cherished object that remains an active participant in the life of York Minster. These biological data provide insights into the decisions made in the selection of materials, the construction of the codex and the use history of the object.

AB - Medieval manuscripts, carefully curated and conserved, represent not only an irreplaceable documentary record but also a remarkable reservoir of biological information. Palaeographic and codicological investigation can often locate and date these documents with remarkable precision. The York Gospels (York Minster Ms. Add. 1) is one such codex, one of only a small collection of pre-conquest Gospel books to have survived the Reformation. By extending the non-invasive triboelectric (eraser-based) sampling technique eZooMS, to include the analysis of DNA, we report a cost-effective and simple-to-use biomolecular sampling technique for parchment. We apply this combined methodology to document for the first time a rich palimpsest of biological information contained within the York Gospels, which has accumulated over the 1000-year lifespan of this cherished object that remains an active participant in the life of York Minster. These biological data provide insights into the decisions made in the selection of materials, the construction of the codex and the use history of the object.

KW - Journal Article

KW - Ancient DNA

KW - Parchment

KW - EZooMS

KW - Molecular codicology

KW - Microbiome

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85032341233&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1098/rsos.170988

DO - 10.1098/rsos.170988

M3 - Article

C2 - 29134095

SN - 2054-5703

VL - 4

JO - Royal Society Open Science

JF - Royal Society Open Science

IS - 10

M1 - 170988

ER -