A new non-invasive technique for parchment diagnosis

The conservation state of parchments is typically assessed using invasive and sometimes destructive investigation techniques. Scientists from Université Paris-Saclay, the CNRS, École Polytechnique, and the French Ministry ...

Solving the mystery of an unusual medieval text

When historian Rowan Dorin first stepped onto the Stanford campus in early 2017, he made it a habit to visit Green Library every week to dig through its collection of medieval documents and objects.

Skin deep—researchers solve mystery of parchment origins

"Parchment" – it sounds ancient and quaint. One variety of it – used in the first truly portable Bibles – has the disturbing name "uterine vellum," prompting scholars over the centuries to surmise its origins.