Researchers used artificial-intelligence software last month to read and reconstruct ancient scrolls carbonised by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius [1].
This breakthrough allows historians to access literary and philosophical works that were physically impossible to unroll without destroying them. The recovery expands the existing body of knowledge regarding ancient Greek thought and the daily lives of people in the first century.
The scrolls were recovered from the Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum, located near modern-day Ercolano, Italy [1, 2]. These documents are approximately 2,000 years old [1] and were carbonised during the volcanic eruption in 79 AD [1]. Because the heat turned the papyrus into charcoal, the scrolls remained sealed and unreadable for centuries.
Using AI imaging and analysis, researchers have successfully deciphered substantial new text from two carbonised scrolls [4]. In one instance, the software recovered the full text of a single sealed Herculaneum scroll [3].
The recovered writings focus on Stoic philosophy, specifically addressing ethics, art, and human behaviour [1]. These texts provide a rare glimpse into the intellectual climate of the era, preserving voices that had been lost to history since the eruption.
Technological advances in AI now allow for the detection of ink on charred surfaces without the need for physical manipulation. This digital approach prevents the fragile material from crumbling, ensuring that the remaining fragments of the Villa of the Papyri collection can be studied safely [2, 5].
“AI was used to read and reconstruct the text of ancient scrolls that had been carbonised by the 79 AD eruption of Mount Vesuvius.”
The ability to read carbonised scrolls via AI transforms archaeology from a physical struggle against decay into a data-science challenge. By bypassing the need to physically unroll fragile papyrus, researchers can potentially unlock thousands of lost documents from the Herculaneum library, potentially rewriting the history of ancient philosophy and literature.
