Re: The Vinland Map's Ink

Eric Stevens wrote: 
On Sun, 03 Apr 2005 21:32:48 -0500, Tom McDonald
<tmcdonald2672@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:


Eric Stevens wrote:

On Mon, 4 Apr 2005 01:06:48 +0200, "Alaca" <P.Alaca@xxxxxxx> wrote:



Steve Marcus wrote:  nMZ3e.74333$7z6.33400@lakeread04,




3) Properly formulated iron gall ink will darken to an extent even
before applied to the substrate. See the quotation above from the
linked source. 


Some days ago I quoted this:
"" Oak gall ink takes time to reach its optimum state.
 Over the course of six months, this ink will gradually
 darken.
 It continues to darken after applied to vellum
 or paper, and may appear faint when first applied. ""
http://tinyurl.com/5lqw3 (manuscriptarts.net)



Which is why, if the VM was originally drawn with faulty ink, the
scribe may not have known that the ink was faulty for several days.

Which lands us in the re-inking situation you have been talking about as being difficult to the point of impossibility. 


First, it is doing it undetectably which I regard as next to
impossible.

I know. But I understood you to be making the case that there are no detectable mistakes such as one would expect to see from re-inking on the VM. If that's incorrect, let me know. I haven't been following this as closely as I might, as some of it has been in your posts to Steve Marcus, which, after considering that life is short, I mostly skim or skip.


Second, that has been reinked is only a hypothesis. Another
possibility is that a yet as unidentified ink was used which separated
into two phases on the paper. The first phase left the yellow
(possibly gelatin based) stain in the paper and the second formed a
black layer on top. The black layer was improperly fused to the lower
layer and has since flaked away. This is not an altogether unknown
behaviour for carbon based inks.

The case you raised was what might happen had the scribe used faulty ink, and not known it for some days. If that were the case with the VM, then re-inking would have been the only way to arrive at the current situation. Well, other than starting over with good ink. 

Before you say that the two-phase deposit is ridiculous you should
remember that this is exactly what McCrone suggested to explain the
presence of the anatase, except that he hypothesised a modern
UV-setting printing ink which had never been set. I believe the recent
identification of what isn't in the black pigment now makes McCrone's
particular suggestion improbable.

I ridicule few ideas from generally rational people, and would not do so in this case unless it was patently ridiculous on its face. To my knowledge, it is not. However, my knowledge of the chemistry of inks is limited to the point of non-existence, so that isn't saying much.


--
Tom McDonald
http://ahwhatdoiknow.blogspot.com/
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: The Vinland Maps Ink
    ... map for evidence of reinking. ... The black layer was improperly fused to the lower ... >faulty ink, and not known it for some days. ...
    (sci.archaeology)
  • Re: The Vinland Maps Ink
    ... map as extensive as the Vinland Map, even a single line drawn directly on ... do with whether the Vinland Map was drawn by tracing black "ink" over ... The black layer was improperly fused to the lower ...
    (sci.archaeology)
  • Re: Vineland
    ... >>earliest date for the ink in the same way that a coin buried in the ... titanium was found in the paper (in lesser quantities than ... >form of anatase. ... the black layer of the ink has disappeared, but we also know from McCrone's ...
    (sci.archaeology)
  • Re: The Vinland Maps Ink
    ... >> Which is why, if the VM was originally drawn with faulty ink, the ... The first phase left the yellow ... The black layer was improperly fused to the lower ... Eric Stevens ...
    (sci.archaeology)
  • Re: The Vinland Maps Ink
    ... See the quotation above from the ... >"" Oak gall ink takes time to reach its optimum state. ... Which is why, if the VM was originally drawn with faulty ink, the ...
    (sci.archaeology)
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