Slashdot Mirror
Interior of Burnt Herculaneum Scroll Read For First Time
New submitter Solandri writes: When Mt. Vesuvius erupted in A.D. 79, it destroyed a library of classical works in Herculaneum. The papyrus scrolls weren't incinerated, but were instead carbonized by the hot gases. The resulting black carbon cylinders have mostly withstood attempts to read their contents since their discovery. Earlier attempts to unfurl the scrolls yielded some readable material, but were judged too destructive. Researchers decided to wait for newer technology to be invented that could read the scrolls without unrolling them.
Now, a team led by Dr. Vito Mocella from the National Research Council's Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems (CNR-IMM) in Naples, Italy has managed to read individual letters inside one of the scrolls. Using a form of x-ray phase contrast tomography (abstract), they were able to ascertain the height difference (about 0.1mm) between the ink of the letters and the papyrus fibers which they sat upon. Due to the fibrous nature of the papyrus and the carbon-based ink, regular spectral and chemical analysis had thus far been unable to distinguish the ink from the paper. Further complicating the work, the scrolls are not in neat cylinders, but squashed and ruffled as the hot gases vaporized water in the papyrus and distorted the paper.
Now, a team led by Dr. Vito Mocella from the National Research Council's Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems (CNR-IMM) in Naples, Italy has managed to read individual letters inside one of the scrolls. Using a form of x-ray phase contrast tomography (abstract), they were able to ascertain the height difference (about 0.1mm) between the ink of the letters and the papyrus fibers which they sat upon. Due to the fibrous nature of the papyrus and the carbon-based ink, regular spectral and chemical analysis had thus far been unable to distinguish the ink from the paper. Further complicating the work, the scrolls are not in neat cylinders, but squashed and ruffled as the hot gases vaporized water in the papyrus and distorted the paper.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Donec dictum, leo et volutpat tristique, nisl ipsum maximus dui, in pharetra urna diam sit amet risus. Morbi erat felis, imperdiet id mattis vel, luctus ac sem. Pellentesque turpis dui, maximus at vehicula non, ullamcorper vel tellus. Fusce euismod ornare semper. Sed blandit lorem vel lacus scelerisque tristique. Ut non laoreet nisl. Maecenas quis tellus dolor. Suspendisse vitae enim diam. Ut tristique quam dignissim pellentesque accumsan. Integer nec lectus felis. Donec dictum congue elit, sed placerat arcu. Nam nec aliquam nibh. Nam consequat aliquet quam. Vivamus aliquam diam vitae hendrerit efficitur.
Vivamus imperdiet mi non leo cursus efficitur. Vivamus placerat, enim at rutrum viverra, nisl magna aliquet ligula, eget eleifend nunc odio sit amet augue. Fusce convallis elit et sem bibendum laoreet. Etiam convallis ex quis lacus ornare suscipit. Suspendisse quam nibh, varius sit amet leo a, pretium porttitor tortor. Donec felis purus, varius vitae massa quis, luctus pretium felis. Suspendisse hendrerit volutpat dolor viverra porta. Cras pellentesque feugiat est. Sed congue augue quis justo ullamcorper, sed fringilla velit molestie. Ut ultricies est eget magna tincidunt, id euismod dolor accumsan. Mauris id sapien quis lacus blandit lobortis ut eu sem. Integer eu vestibulum elit. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Cras scelerisque imperdiet sodales. Aenean quis viverra nisl, sit amet varius leo. Proin sodales, purus quis accumsan bibendum, sapien ligula ornare neque, id semper ipsum eros in velit.
Vivamus finibus augue quis quam rhoncus ullamcorper. Praesent et sagittis diam. Morbi sed ipsum risus. Nam vulputate eros diam, nec euismod quam eleifend a. Curabitur dignissim varius lobortis. Morbi non erat eget ligula consectetur rhoncus in vitae sem. Aenean hendrerit tellus nec odio facilisis, ut molestie nisi ultrices. Integer finibus tellus vitae dui dignissim, lobortis tincidunt justo posuere. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Morbi eu auctor augue, et rutrum lectus. Cras sed bibendum quam. Donec vel turpis fermentum, volutpat risus in, consectetur justo. Aliquam erat volutpat. Etiam fermentum elit eu arcu molestie laoreet.
Donec pellentesque libero et eros iaculis rutrum. Phasellus id massa sagittis, accumsan nibh a, congue lacus. Phasellus commodo nisl ut lectus eleifend semper. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Donec facilisis condimentum lorem sit amet euismod. Nulla vitae massa et ex ornare placerat. Suspendisse quam dui, feugiat in neque id, aliquet suscipit sapien. Nullam malesuada, nulla cursus bibendum eleifend, ex est tincidunt tortor, at congue mi justo vitae urna. Cras nec semper mi.
Nam sem justo, volutpat non urna aliquam, ullamcorper tempor neque. Mauris eget ex velit. Curabitur placerat eu felis a tincidunt. Proin mattis pharetra diam ut volutpat. Sed ac lacinia neque. Sed gravida mattis ligula. Etiam blandit maximus sem, quis aliquet magna laoreet sagittis. Maecenas consequat vel augue in pellentesque. Sed ultricies eleifend purus interdum dapibus. Quisque laoreet, arcu id congue tincidunt, lectus mi consectetur dui, sit amet laoreet neque lectus at turpis. Etiam euismod enim a est lacinia, ut pharetra libero malesuada.