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Girding the loins? Direct evidence of the use of a medieval English parchment birthing girdle from biomolecular analysis

Fiddyment, Sarah; Goodison, Natalie J.; Brenner, Elma; Signorello, Stefania; Price, Kierri; Collins, Matthew J.

Girding the loins? Direct evidence of the use of a medieval English parchment birthing girdle from biomolecular analysis Thumbnail


Authors

Sarah Fiddyment

Elma Brenner

Stefania Signorello

Kierri Price

Matthew J. Collins



Abstract

In this paper, we describe palaeoproteomic evidence obtained from a stained medieval birth girdle using a previously developed dry non-invasive sampling technique. The parchment birth girdle studied (Wellcome Collection Western MS. 632) was made in England in the late fifteenth century and was thought to be used by pregnant women while giving birth. We were able to extract both human and non-human peptides from the manuscript, including evidence for the use of honey, cereals, ovicaprine milk and legumes. In addition, a large number of human peptides were detected on the birth roll, many of which are found in cervico-vaginal fluid. This suggests that the birth roll was actively used during childbirth. This study is, to our knowledge, the first to extract and analyse non-collagenous peptides from a birth girdle using this sampling method and demonstrates the potential of this type of analysis for stained manuscripts, providing direct biomolecular evidence for active use.

Citation

Fiddyment, S., Goodison, N. J., Brenner, E., Signorello, S., Price, K., & Collins, M. J. (2021). Girding the loins? Direct evidence of the use of a medieval English parchment birthing girdle from biomolecular analysis. Royal Society Open Science, 8(3), https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.202055

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Feb 3, 2021
Online Publication Date Mar 10, 2021
Publication Date 2021-03
Deposit Date Mar 19, 2021
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Royal Society Open Science
Publisher The Royal Society
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 8
Issue 3
DOI https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.202055

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