| Results We have begun to extract aDNA from small portions of parchment fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls, amplify biologically active DNA using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), obtain DNA sequences, and identify unique genetic signatures of the fragments. This has shown that the process is feasible and can be used to reestablish the physical relationships of scroll fragments that may help clarify the translation and interpretation of the scrolls. We have extracted DNA from eleven small pieces (approximately 0.5 cm 2) of parchment from the area and time period corresponding to the Dead Sea Scroll parchments. DNA from these fragments has been successfully amplified and sequenced. The sequence of six of these fragments is most closely related to, but not identical with, that of both wild and domestic goats. It is significantly different from the human sequence, demonstrating that the parchment material was not contaminated by human DNA either in the handling of the parchment during collection or during the laboratory manipulations. The number of differences between the aDNA and the contemporary goat DNA is greater than is generally expected because of the accumulated normal evolutionary mutations over the two-thousand-year interval. The aDNA is probably not from the same species as the contemporary goat samples. However, fewer differences occur between the ancient sample and the modern goat than between the ancient sample and either sheep or cow. This suggests a closer relationship to a goatlike animal than to a cow or sheep. We then compared the first two of the eleven fragments with sequences that we have determined for the modern ibex and gazelle. These comparisons indicate the possibility that these fragments derived from either a gazelle or ibexlike animal.We have also examined six fragments from five different sheets of the Temple Scroll. These have all been shown to be derived from goat. For these fragments, no difference exists between ancient and modern goats at this gene locus. We are currently in the process of identifying individual DNA polymorphisms in those fragments to determine the degree of relatedness of the animals used to produce the parchment in the scroll. We have also been able to isolate and amplify DNA from archaeological bones of ibex and goats found at Masada. In most of the instances, horn cores that have been identified by species have been used as the source of DNA. This demonstrates our ability to recover from ancient animal remains the necessary genetic information that will enable us to compare the scroll fragments with the animals from which they were derived. This will allow geographical localization of the parchment sources. In conclusion, we have demonstrated the ability to recover aDNA from the parchment on which the Dead Sea Scrolls were written. We have also shown that it is possible to recover authentic sequence from this material and use it to make comparisons with other sequences. Our early results indicate that the skins from which the first two ancient fragments were derived are not domestic or wild goat, but are likely a wild species of gazelle or ibex. We have also determined that seven other random fragments are derived from goat; six of these fragments come from the Temple Scroll. These analyses differ from the classifications made using microscopic analyses of similar parchment fragments from the same area by Ryder. 25 We have not yet identified any parchment from a species of sheep.This project is the beginning of a fruitful collaboration that will continue over the next few years. We hope that the analysis of DNA from parchment fragments will add a new level of critical analysis to scroll scholarship.
Notes Funding for this research was made available through the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies and the Dead Sea Scrolls Foundation. 1. See G. Bonani et al., "Radiocarbon Dating of the Dead Sea Scrolls," Atiqot 20 (1991): 27–32; G. A. Rodley, "An Assessment of the Radiocarbon Dating of the Dead Sea Scrolls," Radiocarbon 35 (1993): 335–8. 2. See Bernd Herrmann and Susanne Hummel, introduction to Ancient DNA, ed. Bernd Herrmann and Susanne Hummel (New York: Springer-Verlag, 1994), 1–12. 3. See Francis X. Villablanca, "Spatial and Temporal Aspects of Populations Revealed by Mitochondrial DNA," in Ancient DNA, ed. Herrmann and Hummel, 31–58. 4. See Russell Higuchi et al., "DNA Sequences from Quagga, an Extinct Member of the Horse Family," Nature 312 (1984): 282–4. 5. See Svante Pääbo, "Molecular Cloning of Ancient Egyptian Mummy DNA," Nature 314 (1985): 644–5; Jörg T. Epplen, "Simple Repeat Loci as Tools for Genetic Identification," in Ancient DNA, ed. Herrmann and Hummel, 13–30. 6. See Randall K. Saiki et al., "Enzymatic Amplification of Beta-Globin Genomic Sequences and Restriction Site Analysis for Diagnosis of Sickle Cell Anemia," Science 230 (1985): 1350–4. 7. See Erika Hagelberg, B. Sykes, and R. Hedges, "Ancient Bone DNA Amplified," Nature 342 (1989): 485; Erika Hagelberg et al., "Ancient Bone DNA: Techniques and Applications," Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B 333 (1991): 339–407; Erika Hagelberg and J. B. Clegg, "Isolation and Characterization of DNA from Archaeological Bone," Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 244 (1991): 45–50; S. Horai et al., "DNA Amplification from Ancient Human Skeletal Remains and Their Sequence Analysis," Proceedings of the Japanese Academy of Science 65 (1989): 229–33; G. Hanni et al., "Amplification of Mitochondrial DNA Fragments from Ancient Human Teeth and Bone," C. R. Academy of Science, 3rd ser., 310 (1990): 356–70; Susanne Hummel and Bernd Herrmann, "Y-Chromosome-Specific DNA Amplified in Ancient Human Bone," Naturwissenschaften 78 (1991): 266–7; D. A. Lawlor et al., "Ancient HLA Genes from 7500-year-old Archaeological Remains," Nature 349 (1991): 785–8; E. Beraud-Columb, J. M. Tiercy, and G. Querat, "Human Beta-thalassemia Gene Detected in 7000-year-old Fossil Bones," in Proceedings of the 3rd International Congress on Human Paleontology, Jerusalem, Israel, August 23–28, 1992 (1992), 146 (abstract); K. Thomas et al., "Spatial and Temporal Continuity of Kangaroo Rat Populations Shown by Sequencing," Journal of Molecular Evolution 31 (1990): 101–12; Scott R. Woodward et al., "Amplification of Nuclear DNA from Teeth and Soft Tissue," PCR Methods and Applications 3/4 (1994): 244–7; and Svante Pääbo, Russell G. Higuchi, and Allan C. Wilson, "Ancient DNA and the Polymerase Chain Reaction," Journal of Biological Chemistry 264 (1989): 9709–12. 8. See Hummel and Herrmann, "Y-chromosome-specific," 266–7; Svante Pääbo, "Ancient DNA: Extraction, Characterization, Molecular Cloning and Enzymatic Amplification," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 83 (1989): 1939–43. 9. See Lawlor et al., "Ancient HLA Genes," 785–8. 10. See R. H. Thomas et al., "DNA Phylogeny of the Extinct Marsupial Wolf," Nature 340 (1989): 465–7. 11. See K. Thomas et al., "Spatial and Temporal Continuity," 101–12. 12. See R. H. Thomas et al., "DNA Phylogeny"; K. Thomas et al., "Spatial and Temporal Continuity"; M. Culver, personal communication. 13. See K. Thomas et al., "Spatial and Temporal Continuity." 14. See Hagelberg and Clegg, "Isolation and Characterization," 45–50; Pääbo, "Ancient DNA: Extraction." 15. See Hagelberg and Clegg, "Isolation and Characterization"; Pääbo, "Ancient DNA: Extraction." 16. See W. Ryder, "Remains Derived from Skin," in Microscopic Studies of Ancient Skins (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1965). 17. Maimonides, as quoted by Yigael Yadin in The Temple Scroll (Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, 1983), 1:315. 18. Yadin, Temple Scroll, 1:309. 19. Ibid. 20. See ibid., 1:9–10. 21. See James H. Charlesworth, Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls (New York: Doubleday, 1992), xxxiii; Emmanuel Tov, "Textual Witness of the Bible," in Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible. (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1992), 102. 22. Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, trans. R. Marcus, Loeb Classical Library (1966), 12.146. 23. Norman Golb, "The Problem of Origin and Identification of the Dead Sea Scrolls," Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 124 (1980): 1–24; Norman Golb, "Who Hid the Dead Sea Scrolls?" Biblical Archaeology 48 (June 1985): 68–82. 24. See Golb, "The Problem of Origin," and Golb, "Who Hid the Dead Sea Scrolls?" 25. See Ryder, "Remains Derived from Skin."Introduction | Section 1 | Section 2 | Results and Notes |