Scientists have developed a method to read burnt scrolls without physically unrolling them, allowing decipherment of fragile historical documents.
Scientists discovered that lead in ancient ink allows X-ray scans to reveal hidden text in charred scrolls from Mount Vesuvius' 79 C.E. eruption. By burning their own papyrus samples, researchers demonstrated the technique could unlock thousands of unread Greek and Roman texts preserved in Herculaneum without physically damaging the brittle manuscripts.