All articles tagged with #x ray tomography
Researchers have demonstrated that lead in ancient ink can be detected via X-ray imaging, allowing scientists to virtually unroll and read carbonized scrolls from Herculaneum without physically opening them. This method, tested on modern replicas, offers a non-invasive way to decipher the only intact library from antiquity.
Researchers have developed a method to decipher carbonized scrolls from Herculaneum without unrolling them by detecting lead in the ink. By creating modern replicas and burning them, the team showed that X-ray scans can distinguish lead-based ink from carbonized papyrus, potentially unlocking thousands of unread ancient texts.
Scientists have successfully deciphered a full 2,000-year-old papyrus scroll from Herculaneum without physically unrolling it, using X-ray tomography and AI. A new study proposes using lead detection in ink to improve readability of the remaining brittle scrolls.
Researchers achieved the first full non‑invasive read of the PHerc.1667 Herculaneum scroll via high‑resolution X‑ray scanning, virtual flattening, and machine‑learning ink amplification, enabling papyrologists to transcribe a likely Stoic ethics treatise without unwrapping the carbonized scroll—a milestone in the Vesuvius Challenge for extracting text from ancient artifacts.