'Dead Sea scrolls' may be missing link in Buddhism 08.03.06 1.00pm

Carbon dating tests of rare manuscripts dubbed the 'Dead Sea Scrolls
of Buddhism' have confirmed the priceless texts are from the first
and fifth centuries AD, and could be the missing link in Buddhist
history, a group of Australian scientists have reported. The tests
were carried out on two out of three international collections, the
Senior and Schøyen collections which are owned by private
individuals. The third is owned by the British Library. The testing
was done by ANSTO, the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology
Organisation. Results showed that two manuscripts from the Senior
collection date between the years 130 and 250 AD and three of the
Schøyen texts between the first and fifth century AD. According to Dr
Mark Allon, an Australian Research Fellow from the University of
Sydney who is translating the texts and commissioned the carbon-
dating work, the date confirmation is an exciting step towards
filling the historical void that existed before the scrolls'
discovery, in particular the Senior results. "Buddhism was originally
an oral tradition but little is known about how it developed from
spoken word to written word, so the discovery and date confirmation
will give us a unique insight into the development of Buddhist
literature," he said. "In addition, although Buddhism flourished
throughout Asia and there is an enormous amount of literature
available today, it totally disappeared from India, central Asia and
the Indonesian archipelago and with it many literary traditions,"
explained Dr Allon. "The new manuscripts are therefore the missing
link in the historical chain. "The Senior collection dating is of
particular importance as this result makes a major contribution to
Indian chronology in showing that an early date of 78 AD for a key
historical figure, the Kushan emperor Kanishka, is no longer
tenable." Dr Geraldine Jacobsen was in charge of the delicate
chemistry needed to prepare the samples for dating. She explained
that before analysing the actual scrolls - which were made out of
birch bark - a sample chemistry test needed to be conducted. "As we
have never tested birch bark before we needed to ensure we got the
chemistry right as sometimes samples don't survive the pre-treatment
stage," she said. "In the treatment, we had to remove any impurities
that might have affected the date and as we had no idea how the
scrolls were handled or if any conservation attempts were made, we
had to use a series of organic solvents, such as hexane, chloroform
and methanol to remove grease or resins. "This process was followed
by washing with acid and alkaline solutions which remove other
possible contaminants, including the solvents we used in the first
step, as these would also affect the dating if they remained."
Another problem Dr Jacobsen faced was the delicate nature of the
birch bark which was extremely fragile and might be destroyed during
treatments. However the test sample showed the bark could survive the
chemistry so they proceeded to go ahead with the dating process in
one of the lab's particle accelerators. This process is called
accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) and tests commenced on the
scrolls in 2004. Carbon dating dates the material itself, in this
case when the bark grew, not the time the writing took place. However
by dating the bark it gives a very good indication of when the texts
were written. The scrolls discovery and the dating of them has added
valuable information to the annals of Buddhist history. The scrolls'
discovery was a result of upheaval in war-torn Afghanistan following
its war with Russia, civil war and consequent rule under the Taleban,
which was hostile to its non-Islamic heritage. This resulted in many
archaeological sites being plundered or destroyed with some artefacts
making their way onto the antiquities market where the scrolls
appeared. The carbon dating tests were carried out by Dr Ugo Zoppi
who has since returned to the United States to continue his
scientific career in this field. *ANSTO is the Australian Nuclear
Science and Technology Organisation, the country's national nuclear
research and development organisation and the centre of Australian
nuclear expertise - over 70 per cent of all radioisotopes used in
Australian nuclear medicine are made in ANSTO's reactor.

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