Scientists have developed a way to recover cellular material from historic parchment manuscripts without damaging the documents. The technique makes it possible to analyze genetic information preserved in parchment and could reveal new details about trade, farming, and other aspects of life stretching back roughly 1,300 years.
Parchment is made from animal skin and was used for thousands of years across Europe, the Middle East, and parts of Africa. It served as the material for many kinds of written records, including legal documents and maps. Because the skins retain biological material, parchment can preserve genetic clues alongside the words written on its surface.
"Because they are made from animal skins, it is often possible to extract genetic information from parchments," says Tim Stinson, corresponding author of a paper on this research and an associate professor of English at North Carolina State University. "That genetic information, in turn, offers us a window into the past, answering questions about things such as when and where a manuscript was made."
DNA Preserved in Ancient Parchment
The genetic information could reveal much more than the origins of individual documents. Since parchment was widely used for centuries, DNA recovered from it may help researchers investigate how domesticated animals changed over time, how different breeds emerged, and what diseases affected livestock.
