THE CRUNCH
A team of researchers has developed a method to identify which of the Herculaneum scrolls contain lead-based ink, a crucial step in the ongoing effort to read the ancient texts. The scientists created their own model papyrus scrolls, charring them to match the originals, to validate a screening technique. This work supports the Vesuvius Challenge, which uses digital unwrapping and crowdsourced machine learning to try
to read the carbonised papyri without physically opening them. The scrolls, buried since the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, were found in a villa believed to have belonged to the Epicurean philosopher Philodemus. While some fragments have already been deciphered, the majority of the collection remains unreadable due to their extreme fragility.