Scratching the surface: the use of sheepskin parchment to deter textual erasure in early modern legal deeds
Abstract Historic legal deeds are one of the most abundant resources in British archives, but also one of the most neglected. Despite the millions that survive, we know remarkably little about their manufacture, including the species of animal on which they were written. Here we present the species...
| Published in: | Heritage Science |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
SpringerOpen
2021-03-01
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-021-00503-6 |
| _version_ | 1852762137924993024 |
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| author | Sean Paul Doherty Stuart Henderson Sarah Fiddyment Jonathan Finch Matthew J. Collins |
| author_facet | Sean Paul Doherty Stuart Henderson Sarah Fiddyment Jonathan Finch Matthew J. Collins |
| author_sort | Sean Paul Doherty |
| collection | DOAJ |
| container_title | Heritage Science |
| description | Abstract Historic legal deeds are one of the most abundant resources in British archives, but also one of the most neglected. Despite the millions that survive, we know remarkably little about their manufacture, including the species of animal on which they were written. Here we present the species identification of 645 sixteenth–twentieth century skins via peptide mass fingerprinting (ZooMS), demonstrating the preferential use of sheepskin parchment. We argue that alongside their abundance and low cost, the use of sheepskins over those of other species was motivated by the increased visibility of fraudulent text erasure and modification afforded by the unique structure of their skin. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-1681981cd51148cda523057bdb8d35d7 |
| institution | Directory of Open Access Journals |
| issn | 2050-7445 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2021-03-01 |
| publisher | SpringerOpen |
| record_format | Article |
| spelling | doaj-art-1681981cd51148cda523057bdb8d35d72025-08-19T20:55:35ZengSpringerOpenHeritage Science2050-74452021-03-01911610.1186/s40494-021-00503-6Scratching the surface: the use of sheepskin parchment to deter textual erasure in early modern legal deedsSean Paul Doherty0Stuart Henderson1Sarah Fiddyment2Jonathan Finch3Matthew J. Collins4Department of Archaeology, University of ExeterDepartment of Archaeology, University of YorkMcDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of CambridgeDepartment of Archaeology, University of YorkMcDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of CambridgeAbstract Historic legal deeds are one of the most abundant resources in British archives, but also one of the most neglected. Despite the millions that survive, we know remarkably little about their manufacture, including the species of animal on which they were written. Here we present the species identification of 645 sixteenth–twentieth century skins via peptide mass fingerprinting (ZooMS), demonstrating the preferential use of sheepskin parchment. We argue that alongside their abundance and low cost, the use of sheepskins over those of other species was motivated by the increased visibility of fraudulent text erasure and modification afforded by the unique structure of their skin.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-021-00503-6ParchmentManuscriptsProteomicsBiocodicologySheepskinLegal deeds |
| spellingShingle | Sean Paul Doherty Stuart Henderson Sarah Fiddyment Jonathan Finch Matthew J. Collins Scratching the surface: the use of sheepskin parchment to deter textual erasure in early modern legal deeds Parchment Manuscripts Proteomics Biocodicology Sheepskin Legal deeds |
| title | Scratching the surface: the use of sheepskin parchment to deter textual erasure in early modern legal deeds |
| title_full | Scratching the surface: the use of sheepskin parchment to deter textual erasure in early modern legal deeds |
| title_fullStr | Scratching the surface: the use of sheepskin parchment to deter textual erasure in early modern legal deeds |
| title_full_unstemmed | Scratching the surface: the use of sheepskin parchment to deter textual erasure in early modern legal deeds |
| title_short | Scratching the surface: the use of sheepskin parchment to deter textual erasure in early modern legal deeds |
| title_sort | scratching the surface the use of sheepskin parchment to deter textual erasure in early modern legal deeds |
| topic | Parchment Manuscripts Proteomics Biocodicology Sheepskin Legal deeds |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-021-00503-6 |
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