Re: The Vinland Map's Ink

On Mon, 4 Apr 2005 20:34:04 -0400, "Steve Marcus"
<smarcus_spamout_@xxxxxxx> returned to the subject and wrote:

--- snip ---

>> 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.
>
>One point that Eric neglects is that any "detectable mistake" that would
>occur as a result of reinking a quill pen would also show up on a map in
>which the lines were not traced one over the other. That is, when drawing a
>map as extensive as the Vinland Map, even a single line drawn directly on
>the parchment would ultimately run the quill out of ink to the point where
>it would have to be reinked.
>
>So the start/stop effect that Eric is going on about has nothing at all to
>do with whether the Vinland Map was drawn by tracing black "ink" over
>yellowish "ink." One would expect to see evidence of the quill having been
>lifted from the parchment and reinked, (or reinked without being lifted in
>accordance with one of Eric's posts), whether the ink was traced over a
>previously drawn line or layed down directly on the parchment.

You seem to have missed my point. To be indetectable, the pen drawing
the black line would have to be refreshed at the same point as the pen
which drew the yellow line beneath. Further, they would both have to
run out of ink at the same point also. This would apply not once but
for each of the many times for which the pen was required to be lifted
from and reapplied to the map as it was drawn, and then redrawn.

I wouldn't expect the pen to be reloaded without lifting from the
*** while drawing the map. This is a trick required when drawing a
straight line with the aid of a ruler when the line is too long for
one pen load of ink. There are two many opportunities to stop and
reload the pen while drawing the VM to require reloading without
leaving the paper.
>>
>>>
>>> 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.
>
>Which is what any scribe would choose to do, seeing as how re-inking would
>require at least as much effort as starting de novo, but would add the
>additional task of having to carefully go over the previously drawn line.

Which is another reason why I think reinking by scribe is a
non-starter.

--- snip ----



Eric Stevens

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