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Treasured Manuscript Deemed Fake
CHICAGO (AP) -- University of Chicago researchers say a parchment paper manuscript kept in an underground vault and once believed to be written as early as the 14th century is likely a fake.

The university bought the hand-illustrated Gospel of St. Mark manuscript called "Byzantine" from a Greek family in the 1930s. The delicate blotchy pages are written in Greek and university officials kept the treasured manuscript in a climate-controlled underground vault.

But suspicions arose in the 1980s when researchers found that blue pigment on the pages wasn't available until the 170O's.

So scholars and scientists at the university took a closer look by using carbon dating and microscope technology.

Professor Margaret Mitchell says it appears the manuscript was fabricated for the antiquities market.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
12 16 09 by Newsroom
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