GoKawiilResearchers validate ink-detection method for burnt Herculaneum scrolls
Scientists built replica papyrus scrolls, charred them to mimic the Herculaneum manuscripts destroyed by Vesuvius, and used them to test a screening technique for detecting lead-based ink. The work, published in PLoS ONE, supports the Vesuvius Challenge's effort to combine digital unwrapping and machine learning to read the still-rolled, unreadable scrolls without physically opening them.
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Identifying which scrolls contain lead-based ink helps researchers prioritize which of the roughly 600 unopened Herculaneum scrolls are most likely to yield readable text through imaging techniques. This validation step strengthens confidence in a broader pipeline that could eventually recover lost ancient philosophical and literary works once thought permanently unreadable.
- A model-scroll experiment validated a method to detect lead-based ink in the ancient Herculaneum scrolls.
- The technique aids prioritization within the Vesuvius Challenge's digital unwrapping and AI-based decipherment project.
- Hundreds of scrolls from Philodemus's suspected library remain unopened due to extreme fragility since their 1700s excavation.
Source: arstechnica.com, 2026-09-16
Published there as: “Scientists develop new method for deciphering ancient scrolls”
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