Quantifying degradation of collagen in ancient manuscripts: The case of the Dead Sea Temple Scroll

Publikation: Beitrag in FachzeitschriftForschungsartikelBeigetragenBegutachtung

Beitragende

  • R. Schütz - , Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) (Autor:in)
  • L. Bertinetti - , Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces (Autor:in)
  • I. Rabin - , Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) (Autor:in)
  • Peter Fratzl - , Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces (Autor:in)
  • Admir Masic - , Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces (Autor:in)

Abstract

Since their discovery in the late 1940s, the Dead Sea Scrolls, some 900 ancient Jewish texts, have never stopped attracting the attention of scholars and the broad public alike, because they were created towards the end of the Second Temple period and the "time of Christ". Most of the work on them has been dedicated to the information contained in the scrolls' text, leaving physical aspects of the writing materials unexamined. They are, however, crucial for both historical insight and preservation of the scrolls. Although scientific analysis requires handling, it is essential to establish the state of degradation of these valued documents. Polarized Raman Spectroscopy (PRS) is a powerful tool for obtaining information on both the composition and the level of disorder of molecular units. In this study, we developed a non-invasive and non-destructive methodology that allows a quantification of the disorder (that can be related to the degradation) of protein molecular units in collagen fibers. Not restricted to collagen, this method can be applied also to other protein-based fibrous materials such as ancient silk, wool or hair. We used PRS to quantify the degradation of the collagen fibers in a number of fragments of the Temple Scroll (11Q19a). We found that collagen fibers degrade heterogeneously, with the ones on the surface more degraded than those in the core.

Details

OriginalspracheEnglisch
Seiten (von - bis)5594-5599
Seitenumfang6
FachzeitschriftAnalyst
Jahrgang138
Ausgabenummer19
PublikationsstatusVeröffentlicht - 7 Okt. 2013
Peer-Review-StatusJa
Extern publiziertJa

Externe IDs

Scopus 84883250269
PubMed 23837173