Thread by @amaliasl

Each time I hear the--pejorative--term “dusty archives,” I cringe.

Most people don't realize that what they call dust, dirt, damage are in fact clues and traces of the past.

A thread with some examples of #ArchivalWaste 1/

Palaeoproteomic analysis of a stained medieval birth girdle showed that this parchment was actively used during birth in a talismanic, apotropaic way.

Trying to decipher only the symbols on it obscures the intensely human aspect of this item. 2/
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rs…

Manuscripts that had lost their visible ink or had turned black because of exposure to elements can now be read with multispectral imaging. 3/

gizmodo.com/how-historians…

In 1258 the river Tigris ran black for half a year.

Invading Mongols had thrown thousands of books from the famed Khizanat-al-Hikma or the ‘Storehouse of Wisdom’ library in Baghdad into the river. 4/

historyofyesterday.com/the-time-when-…

Something that is lost during digitization: the auditory quality of material. 5/

https://twitter.com/medievalbecky/status/1110234249913876481

The wealth and beauty of dirt and dust. Inspirational, often poetic. 6/

https://twitter.com/geofhuth/status/1117766569193558016

A living archive of glass particles, tiny, tragic remnants of life from the destruction of Hiroshima. 7/

atlasobscura.com/articles/found…

And then, the illusion of "going paperless" that belies the horrific environmental toll. 8/

discardstudies.com/2017/09/25/vir…

A "Library of Stains" #stainalive project that provides new ways to scholars, librarians, conservators, and the public to understand the material makeup of medieval manuscripts, their medieval uses, and new approaches to study them. 9/

labeculaevivae.wordpress.com

So, seeing/reading only the text or images on a page we miss out on so much information & context.

Also don't forget: archivists—always understaffed, overworked, undevalued—spend inordinate amounts of time to keep stuff clean and accessible! 10/10