Palynological Analysis in the Studies of Manuscripts Using the Sophia Prologue Manuscript As an Example

Abstract

Traces of wax illuminators on the pages of historical documents contain spore-pollen spectra that provide information about the geography of their existence. For the first time, the palynological analysis of wax drops is applied to a large manuscript monument: the Sophia Prologue (MD NLR Soph. 1324), on the pages of which 83 traces of wax illuminators are selected. Based on the research results, most of the drops are attributed to waxes produced in the northwestern part of Russia, which does not contradict the known facts about the manuscript’s location within present Novgorod oblast. Two sets of wax drops, the palynospectra of which were formed outside the Novgorod land, which gives grounds to once again raise the question of the history of the use and movement of the book, are also found.