Data from: The York Gospels: a 1000-year biological palimpsest

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 for
parchment. 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 1000-year lifespan of this
cherished object that remains an active participant in the life of York
Minster. These biological data provide insights into the decisions made in
the selection of materials, the construction of the codex and the use
history of the object.