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Originally Posted by rubecube
Does wikipedia provide an accurate depiction of the historical significance of these, or is there something else you could briefly provide?
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Wikipedia provides a pretty good concise summary. I could also recommend the Orion Centre for the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls, housed at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
http://orion.mscc.huji.ac.il
In short, the discovery of the DSS has revolutionised the study of Jewish history and religion in the late Hellenistic-to-early-Roman periods (ca. 300 B.C.E.–50 C.E.), the development and shape of early Judaism, and the emergence of Christianity. Perhaps most significantly, they reveal a much more pluralistic Jewish religious culture, and help to emphasise the Jewish roots of Christianity.
My own research has to do with the production and conception of "scripture" in early Judaism, formations of Jewish ideology and identity from the scriptural texts, and varying authority structures within the streams of Jewish religion. Much of what we learn about these things helps to illumine the life, teachings and reception of Jesus in a Jewish messianic context, the Christian handling and interpretation of Scripture, and their own self-identity.