This dataset was created at the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC) and Cluster of Excellence ‘Understanding Written Artefacts’ (UWA).

Manuscripts

19 palm-leaf manuscripts from India were measured

Cod. Palmbl. II 208 (35.3208)


Cod. Palmbl. I 8 (35.3008)


Cod. Palmbl. I 5 (35.3005)


Cod. Palmbl. III 118 (35.3363)


Cod. Palmbl. II 209 (35.3209)


Cod. Palmbl. I 33 (35.3033)


Cod. Palmbl. I 24 (35.3024)


Cod. Palmbl. I 170 (35.3170)


Cod. Palmbl. I 51 (35.3051)


Cod. Palmbl. II 205 (35.3205)


Cod. Palmbl. II 224 (35.3224)


Cod. Palmbl. I 188 (35.3188)


Cod. Palmbl. I 28 (35.3028)


Cod. Palmbl. I 11 (35.3011)


Cod. Palmbl. I 169 (35.3169)


Cod. Palmbl. I 112 (35.3112)


Cod. Palmbl. III 53 (35.3299)


Cod. Palmbl. I 9 (35.3009)


Cod. Palmbl. I 110 (35.3110)

Spectra

The spectra were recorded with the portable FTIR spectrometer 4100 ExoScan (Agilent) in DRIFTS mode. The raw spectra are stored as .spc files in a zip archive.

Note: Due to subsequently detected contamination of the spectrometer, it cannot be ruled out that the recorded spectra are affected by outliers and biased. The results should therefore be categorised accordingly.

Spectra file names are structured as follows: "Date of the measurement_Name of the instrument_accessory name_no. of scans_name of the manuscript_measurement name.spc"

Date of the measurement: yyyymmdd
Name of the instrument: E for ExoScan
accessory name: DRIFT
no. of scans: 256
name of the manuscript: Object No. (see above)
measurement name: "page image name_page_area_No"

    page numer:
    area: measurement area (leaf, ink, stain...)
    No: number of measurement (on this page)

Interactive visualization

The "InteractiveVisualisation.html" file is a standalone website that shows the individual spectra and the chemometric analysis of the data. The presented analysis and data should be considered as an overview. Some of the shown data is simplified for this interactive demonstration and may not reflect reality.

The research was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Germany's Excellence Strategy – EXC 2176 'Understanding Written Artefacts: Material, Interaction and Transmission in Manuscript Cultures', project no. 390893796. The research was conducted within the scope of the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC) at Universität Hamburg.