PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Matthew D. Teasdale
AU  - Sarah Fiddyment
AU  - Jiří Vnouček
AU  - Valeria Mattiangeli
AU  - Camilla Speller
AU  - Annelise Binois
AU  - Martin Carver
AU  - Catherine Dand
AU  - Timothy P. Newfield
AU  - Christopher C. Webb
AU  - Daniel G. Bradley
AU  - Matthew J. Collins
TI  - The York Gospels: a one thousand year biological palimpsest
AID  - 10.1101/146324
DP  - 2017 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 146324
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/07/24/146324.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/07/24/146324.full
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. 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 1,000 year lifespan of this cherished object that remains an active participant in the life of York Minster. This biological data provides insights into the decisions made in the selection of materials, the construction of the codex and the use history of the object.