Up until about 500 years ago, most of the writing in Europe was done on vellum which is essentially flattened and treated sheepskin. Paper was widely used in China but still had not gained popularity in Europe. Because writing surfaces were so precious, monks and scribes often re-used vellum by scratching out the previously written text in order to write anew. The result is a palimpsest, a document where you could read the text, and literally subtext upon subtext.
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