首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Researching the origin of medieval manuscripts Background Medieval manuscripts — handwritten books produced between the fift
Researching the origin of medieval manuscripts Background Medieval manuscripts — handwritten books produced between the fift
admin
2022-09-09
71
问题
Researching the origin of medieval manuscripts
Background
Medieval manuscripts — handwritten books produced between the fifth and fifteenth centuries
Origin of many manuscripts unknown until 2009; scientists started using DNA testing
Animal hides — two types
Parchment
Sheep skin: white in colour and【L31】________
Greasy — writing can’t be erased so often used for【L32】________
Vellum
Calf skin: most popular for prestigious work because you can get【L33】________
lettering.
Preparation of hides
Treated in barrels of lime — where this was not available, skins were【L34】________
(removed hair — more flexible)
Stretched tight on a frame
Scraped to create same【L35】________
Vellum was【L36】________
Genetic testing — finding origins
Previously — analysed handwriting and【L37】________used by the writer
Now — using genetic data from ’known manuscripts’ to create a【L38】________
Uses of new data
Gives information on individual books
Shows the【L39】________of the book industry
Helps define【L40】________in medieval period
【L40】
My presentation today is on how the science of genetics is being used to shed light on the origin of manuscripts — anything written by hand — produced in the medieval period... that is... the period between the fifth and fifteenth centuries AD.
As many of you know, thousands of medieval handwritten books still exist today. Some of them have a clear provenance, that is, we know exactly where and when they were written, but the origin of many manuscripts has been a complete mystery, that is, until 2009 when geneticists started using DNA testing to shed light on their origins.
But before looking at the new research, I need to explain something about the way the manuscripts were produced — particularly what they were written on. Virtually all were written on treated animal skins and there were essentially two types. The first was parchment, which is made of sheepskin. It has the quality of
being very white but also being thin
. It has a naturally greasy surface which meant it was hard to erase writing from it.
This made it much sought after for court documents in medieval times
. The second type is vellum, which is calfskin. This was most often used for any very ’ high-status’ documents because
it provided the best writing surface, so scribes could achieve lettering of high quality
.
So, once the animal hides had been chosen, they had to be prepared. Where the right materials were on hand, the skins were put into large barrels or vats of lime, where they were agitated or stirred frequently.
But if lime wasn’t available, then the hides were buried
. Both these techniques were designed to cause the hair to slough off, and the skins to become gelatinous and therefore more flexible.
The next stage was to put the hides on stretcher frames and pull them very tight. While on the frame
they were scraped with a moon-shaped knife in order to create a uniform thickness
. For parchment, that was the end of the process,
but for vellum there was an additional stage where it was bleached
, in order to achieve the desired colour.
So, what does all this preparation mean for the quest to identify the origins of ’mystery’ manuscripts? Well, until recently the only way historians and other academics were able to guess at origins was
either through the analysis of the handwriting style or from the dialect in which the piece was written
. But these techniques have proven unreliable, for a number of reasons.
It was thus decided to try to look at the problem from a different angle... to start from what is known, that is, the small number of manuscripts whose origins we do already know. Because these parchments and vellum are both made from animal hides, it was possible to subject them to DNA testing and to identify the genetic markers for the date and location of production.
From this was created what is known as a ’baseline’
. The next stage was to test the mystery manuscripts, finding their DNA characteristics and then making comparisons between the known and the mystery scripts. Genetic similarities and differences enabled the scientists to gain more information about the origins of the many manuscripts we had known virtually nothing about up to that point.
Now you might ask — what are the potential uses of this new information? Well, obviously, it can shed light on the origin of individual books and manuscripts. But that’s not all. It can also
shed light on the evolution of the whole of the manuscripts production industry
in medieval times. And because that was such a thriving business, involving very large-scale movements right across the globe, the new data, in turn,
help historians establish which trade routes were in operation
during the whole millennium. Now if anyone has any questions...
选项
答案
trade routes
解析
空格处位于动词define之后,推测应填入名词(短语)。录音原文中的help historians establish是题目中Helps define的同义替换,故空格处填入trade routes。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/snnD777K
本试题收录于:
雅思听力题库雅思(IELTS)分类
0
雅思听力
雅思(IELTS)
相关试题推荐
编写函数fun,其功能是:将s所指字符串中除了下标为奇数同时ASCH码值也为奇数的字符之外,其余的所有字符全部删除,串中剩余字符所形成的一个新串放在t所指的数组中。例如,若s所指字符串的内容为“ABCDEFG12345”,其中字符A的ASCII码
下列给定程序中函数fun的功能是:用插入排序法对字符串中的字符进行升序排列。插入法的基本算法是:先对头两个字符进行排序,然后把第三个字符插入到前两个字符中,插入后前三个字符依然有序;再把第四个字符插入到前三个字符中……待排序的字符串已在主函数中赋予。
给定程序MODI1.C中函数fun的功能是:求出两个非零正整数的最大公约数,并作为函数值返回。例如,若给numl和num2分别输入49和21,则输出的最大公约数为7;若给numl和num2分别输入27和81,则输出的最大公约数为27。请
滨海市对重点中学组织了一次物理统考,并生成了所有考生和每一个题目的得分。市教委要求小罗老师根据已有数据,统计分析各学校及班级的考试情况。请根据考生文件夹下“Excel素材.xlsx”中的数据,帮助小罗完成此项工作。具体要求如下:将“Excel素材.xl
Whatdidtheaudiencethinkofthefilm?
Travellingcanbeawonderfuladventure.Travellingbyairplane,however,canbeverytiring.Thefollowing【K1】________(be)s
Alltypesofstressstudy,whetherunderlaboratoryorreal-lifesituations,studymechanismsforincreasingthearousallevelo
WhatdoesJeromesaywashismainworryayearpreviously?
WhatdoLeeandAnitaagreeabouttheirpresentationskillswiththeirtutor?AexcellentBacceptableCpoorPresentati
Heisanexcellentathlete,andallhismovementsare(beauty)________.
随机试题
水牛,使役后出现尿血,头低耳耷,精神短少,口色淡白,舌体绵软无力。治疗可选择的方剂是
A.具有大学本科以上学历、执业药师资格和三年以上药品经营质量管理工作经历B.具有预防医学、药学、微生物学或者医学等专业大学本科以上学历C.具有药学或者医学、生物、化学相关专业中专以上学历D.具有药学中专或者医学、生物、化学等相关专业大学专科以上学历
某地一单层家具商场耐火等级为二级,建筑总面积为15000m2。冬季该单层家具商场内的环境温度经常处于0℃以下,设有湿式自动喷水灭火系统。问题:该单层家具商场设置的湿式自动喷水灭火系统是否恰当?为什么?
根据《公安机关人民警察辞退办法》的规定,人民警察的辞退,必须有一定的(),否则无效。
下列治安管理处罚中,正确的是()。
A.窭房结B.心房肌C.房室结D.浦肯野纤维冲动传导速度最慢的部位是
BSP方法的主要目标是()。
要求通过while循环不断读入字符,当读入字母N时结束循环。若变量已正确定义,下列正确的程序段是()。
Crimehasitsowncycles,amagazinere-portedsomeyearsbefore.Policerecordsthat【M1】______.werestudiedforfiveyearso
近几年来,庙会已经成为人们欣赏民间艺术和体验传统文化的首选之地。
最新回复
(
0
)