Abstract:

In recent years, there has been a clear disparity between the emergence of new research on the Glagolitic alphabet and the publication interest in the subject. The lack of new scientific development on the cultural history of the earliest glagolism is a topic, which unless adequately adapted to the requirements of modern digital research and training, will create future obstacles for the training of new scientists. Now not only the number of young scientists is very limited, but also their preparation for theoretical and practical work on the above issues. This includes the interest in the publication of new monuments, the study of palaeography, graphematics and codicology of old monuments, the creation of new theories dealing with certain aspects that could not be explored without solid scientific training.

Current methods of research and analysis of the Glagolitic heritage can also be criticized. In many respects, the desire to create something new in modern Glagolitic studies is greatly constrained by the lack of appropriate aids in line with current trends in the study of manuscripts and, therefore, the results of the aspirations of these authors are not up to date at all. Research on the early state of the Glagolitic alphabet is extremely closely connected with the study of sources. Without mastering an adequate scientific methodology, the results will be deprived of the opportunity to upgrade the existing database. Therefore, special attention should be paid to new technical capabilities available today, like multispectral digitization and computer image processing; hyperspectral and spectroscopic analysis (XRF, FTIR, Raman, UV-vis) of the constituent material of the manuscripts (parchment, inks, pigments, dyes, etc.) and - in special cases - microbiological analyses (DNA, metagenome) of parchment and the microbiota (such as viruses and bacteria), which allow a large amount of new information to be obtained and studied with precision otherwise impossible to achieve.

This framework gives a new perspective for the philological study of a number of Glagolitic monuments - mostly damaged or poorly preserved parchment codices, palimpsests containing two or more manuscript layers, as well as those with multiple images. The study of the material from which a manuscript monument is made - the composition of the ink, pigments, binder, chemical and multispectral analysis is increasingly used to confirm its historical and textual authenticity. Based on all these data, the objective study of a number of textual and documentary sources enters a new phase and is widely used by historians and philologists. The analysis of the material from which the studied monument is made also contributes to its more accurate dating, as well as to the creation of a more precise classification. The ultimate goal of this new type of teamwork is to compare the totality of all interdisciplinary research, outlining the relationship of data from different models of analysis and thus reaching new knowledge about already known or newly studied objects.

Keywords:

Interdisciplinary, Glagolitic, manuscripts, material analysis, multispectral images, palimpsest.