Medieval women’s early involvement in manuscript production suggested by lapis lazuli identification in dental calculus

Radini A, Tromp M, Beach A, Tong E, Speller C, McCormick M, Dudgeon JV, Collins MJ, Rühli F, Kröger R, & Warinner C. Medieval women’s early involvement in manuscript production suggested by lapis lazuli identification in dental calculus. Science Advances 2019 5 eaau7126.

"One thousand years ago, a woman in a convent in northern Germany licked her paintbrush to draw the bristles into a fine point, and some of the pigment sealed into the plaque on her teeth. Now, archaeologists have discovered that the color came from lapis lazuli, a blue stone from half a world away. The finding suggests this anonymous middle-aged woman was likely a skilled painter tasked with creating high-quality illuminated manuscripts of religious texts—the first time a medieval artist has been identified from their skeleton alone, and further evidence that women copied and painted books in medieval Europe. "