We May Soon Be Able to Read Long-Lost Ancient Scrolls Damaged by the Eruption of Mount Vesuvius
Lead in the ink made the lettering visible in X-ray scans, and researchers say unopened Herculaneum scrolls could be screened for easier recovery.
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Science Writing, 16 Sep (EFE).- In 79 A.D. the ashes of the volcano Vesuvius buried the Italian city of Herculano and, with it, the more than a thousand papyrus rolls of the city library that kept ancient knowledge -known today - and that the eruption turned into charred paper. [...] The post Search Lead in Ink, the method that could help read papyrus over 2000 years old was first published in HolaNews.
We may soon be able to read long-lost ancient scrolls damaged by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius
X-ray technology and artificial intelligence—along with the discovery of lead in the ink of fragments from a collection of ancient Roman scrolls—could soon help scientists read long-lost texts buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE, according to a study published Sept. 16, 2026, in the journal PLOS One by Douglas Seiler, an affiliate of the University of California, Berkeley, U.S.; Jacob Michael LaManna of the National Institute of St…
New trick could reveal text on 2,000-year-old scrolls charred by eruption of Mount Vesuvius
Using X-ray technologies and custom-made software, researchers were able to read text they wrote on a fake ancient scroll designed to mimic those destroyed at Herculaneum in A.D. 79.
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