Three ancient documents solve the jigsaw of the parchment purple spot deterioration and validate the microbial succession model.

ABSTRACT: The preservation of cultural heritage is one of the major challenges of today's society. Parchments, a semi-solid matrix of collagen produced from animal skin, are a significant part of the cultural heritage, being used as writing material since ancient times. Due to their animal origin, parchments easily undergo biodeterioration: the most common biological damage is characterized by isolated or coalescent purple spots, that often lead to the detachment of the superficial layer and the consequent loss of written content. Although many parchments with purple spot biodegradative features were studied, no common causative agent had been identified so far. In a previous study a successional model has been proposed, basing on the multidisciplinary analysis of damaged versus undamaged samples fr

SUBMITTER: Migliore L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6367363 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature