Hole Repairs as Proof of a Specific Method of Manufacture of Late Antique Parchment

This article focuses on research into two ways of repairing holes found on parchment of Late Antique manuscripts. Their appearance and the reasons for these repairs are analysed and illustrated using the example of the Vienna Dioscorides, a Byzantine manuscript dated to 512. The reconstruction of the manufacturing method of thin Late Antique parchment prepared from lambskins shows clearly that these repairs were an important part of the production process and not subsequent repairs. Conservation of parchment may in some cases have a serious effect on the perception of this important technological evidence.