Wax notebook, silk tp found in medieval latrine

A medieval notebook made of wood and wax was found intact inside a leather case in a latrine in Paderborn, Germany. The object dates to the 13th or 14th century and remained in exceptional condition because it was preserved by ancient human waste. Archaeologists discovered it during excavation for a new city administration building. The notebook was initially hidden in wet earth and only became identifiable after cleaning at a restoration workshop. It contains ten wax-coated pages designed for writing and erasing, with eight pages on both sides of four leaves and cover and back interiors forming the first and last pages. The binding was tight, so only the outside required cleaning. The inner wood was unwarped, wax layers were intact, and original Latin cursive scratched with a stylus remained visible. The writing appears to come from a single hand and was likely used as a spontaneous notebook.

"A unique medieval wood and wax notebook has been found intact with its leather case inside a latrine in Paderborn, Germany. It dates to the 13th or 14th century, and is in exceptional condition, preserved by the archaeological miracle that is ancient human waste. Archaeologists overseen by the Westphalia-Lippe Regional Association (LWL) discovered the notebook in an excavation before construction of a new city administration building. Obscured in a wet clump of earth (night soil?) that smelled exactly as bad as you imagine, the object only revealed its secret identity was after conservators at the LWL restoration workshop cleaned it."

"It is made of wood and consists of ten pages coated with wax so they could be written on and then reused. Eight of the pages are on both sides of four leaves; the first and last pages are the insides of the cover and back. The book was so tightly bound that conservators only had to clean the outside. The inner pages were completely clean, the wood unwarped and the thin layers of wax still perfectly intact complete with the original text written with a stylus."

"The text is written in two directions, depending on how the book was held, but it appears to be from a single hand. Regarding the writing implement, Bretzel explains: The stylus is pointed at one end to scratch the letters into the wax. The other end of the stylus was flat or spatula-shaped. This allowed the wax to be smoothed and the writing erased, making the tablet reusable. The wax still covers all the inner surfaces of the tablets and is largely inscribed with cursive script."

"Gai: The Latin language also an indication of an upper-class owner and the characteristics of the cursive script date this book to the period between the 13th and the end of the 14th century. The wax, however, doesn't just show the most recently written pages. The rubbing of an older script is"

Read at www.thehistoryblog.com