Colleagues
Parchment is predominantly made of the fibrous protein collagen, but contains small amounts of DNA, the genetic code, itself. In partnership with Sarah Fiddyment of York’s BioArCh group we've developed a new – non-invasive and non-destructive – method for sampling parchment collagen to recover from it evidence that is otherwise concealed from us.
Using mass-spectrometric analysis of the protein, collagen, we now have a method to identify the animal origin (down to the specific species of deer in one case) and state of deterioration of parchment.
We're currently working on a method that would allow us to non-destructively extract DNA samples from parchment. If we're successful then the DNA analysis will enable us to determine specific herds and the relationships between one animal and another. We believe, for example, that we shall be able to build up a database of herds contributing to the parchment record that would be the equivalent of dendrochronology for timber artefacts.
This opens up terrific new possibilities for research; we are (with colleagues elsewhere in the UK, Ireland and the USA) applying to the AHRC for funding to take this forward. In order to do this we need to obtain parchment samples across a wide range of geographical locations, document types and chronological range. The business of taking samples is easy, not time consuming and does no damage to the documents. Even archives without a conservation unit could take samples with minimal training. Sarah is prepared to visit archives to give demonstrations of the sampling method.
Because many of us have archives with clear provenance this project gives us a chance to create a fully referenced set of data from which it will be possible to extrapolate our findings. But we need help from archives throughout the UK. We’re particularly interested in hearing from diocesan archives with bishops’ and probate registers, and county, city and borough archives with parchment records created by the county/city/borough bureaucracy. We’re interested too in family and estate archives with similar well-provenanced characteristics, especially if we can show that there was more than one geographical centre of document production.
We already have assistance from Dundee, Flintshire, Norfolk and Norwich, Hull History Centre and from City of York Archives as well as the archiepiscopal holdings here at the Borthwick. If you’re interested, you can email me (as below), Professor Matthew Collins ([log in to unmask];, 01904 32 8806 or 01904 32 3905), the lead researcher on the project team, or Dr Sarah Fiddyment ([log in to unmask], 01904 32 8650 or
01904 32 8824) or talk to us on the telephone.
Chris Webb
[log in to unmask]
Borthwick Institute for Archives
University of York
Heslington
York YO10 5DD
01904 321161
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