UK to 'unroll' papyrus scrolls buried by VesuviusChalk one up for archivists everywhere!
When Vesuvius covered Herculaneum in volcanic ash, panic ensued, thousands died, and hundreds of scrolls of ancient texts collected in a house thought to be owned by the father-in-law of Julius Caesar were instantly turned into lumps of carbon. When they were found, scholars initially attempted to unravel the scroll - most of which instantly fell apart. But a team lead by Brent Seales, a Gill professor of engineering in the University of Kentucky's computer science department seems to have found a new way to unlock the scrolls' mysteries.
The team will use an X-Ray CT scanning system to collect interior images of the scrolls' rolled-up pages. Then, he and his colleagues hope to digitally "unroll" the scrolls on a computer screen so scholars can read them.
Read more about this exciting development here!
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