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> Even the main durable writing material I must say, I wonder if the dark ages were dark because of all the factors you cite ... or simply because they started
by candiodari 4y ago
> Even the main durable writing material
I must say, I wonder if the dark ages were dark because of all the factors you cite ... or simply because they started using a non-durable writing material and historians can't find much information because all that was written down disintegrated before it could be found.
- yywwbbn 4y agoThat’s not true though. They actually started using more durable writing materials. Parchment can survive much longer than papyrus which is why we have some many manuscripts surviving from the late dark ages. IIRC if any ancient work was transcribed around 9-10th century there is a pretty decent chance it survived until today. The thing about ancient Roman/Greek texts is that they had to be continually copied every few generations or so. So 50-100 years of extreme social upheaval might be enough to lose a significant proportion of all literary works.