parchment

Also known as membrane, animal membrane

right|thumb|Central European (Northern) type of finished parchment made of goatskin (material)|goatskin stretched on a wooden frame thumb|Parchment with a quill and ink

AI overview

Parchment is a writing material made from animal skin, typically goatskin, that has been stretched and prepared for use. It was an important medium for writing and preserving documents and texts before paper became widely available.

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Commons category: Parchments
Commons gallery: Parchment
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Article

19 sections

Contents

Parchment and vellum
History <span class="anchor" id="Etymology and origin"></span>
Modern use
Manufacture
Skinning, soaking, and dehairing
Stretching
Treatments
Reuse
Jewish parchment
Additional uses of the term
Plant-based parchment
Parchment craft
Technical analysis <span class="anchor" id="DNA testing"></span>
See also
References
Notes
Bibliography
Further reading
External links

right|thumb|Central European (Northern) type of finished parchment made of goatskin (material)|goatskin stretched on a wooden frame thumb|Parchment with a quill and ink

Parchment is a writing material made from specially prepared untanned skins of animals—primarily sheep, calves and goats. It has been used as a writing medium in West Asia and Europe for more than two millennia. By 400 AD many of the written works intended for preservation in these regions had been transferred from papyrus to parchment. Vellum is a type of fine-quality parchment made from the skins of young animals such as lambs and young calves.