Redshift evolution of the damping parameter for continuum-normalized spectra dominated by IGM absorption. The grey shaded region shows the range of damping parameters calculated from a step function at the observed Lyα wavelength (which sets the lower limit) and the IGM damping wing calculated using the Miralda-Escudé (1998) model in a completely neutral Universe (which sets the upper limit). The colored violin plots represent the distribution of damping parameters measured from IGM damping wings generated from the Sherwood-Relics simulation of an inhomogeneously reionized IGM as presented in Keating et al. (2023a). The volume-averaged H I fraction x_HI for each simulation snapshot is indicated in the legend.