View source for Seal tags

A '''seal tag''' was an early anti-tampering device, used to defend against unauthorized additions to official documents in [[period]]. 

A seal tag is actually quite simple; when a document is completed, the excess [[parchment]] at the bottom of the page was folded up.  A hole was punched in the parchment and a seal tag (a string, a piece of finger-loop or other [[braid]], a spare strip of parchment or a strip of [[leather]]) was threaded through the whole and secured with [[wax]], which was then given the impression from a [[seal]]. 

This marked the end of the document and made it impossible to alter without breaking the seal and removing the seal tag.  However, because parchment remained below the fold, later additions could still be added; such additions would require the document to be re-sealed afterwards.

[[category:artefact (medieval)]]