If a researcher were to attempt to unfurl the fragile scrolls by hand, they would crumble, risking the loss of any inscribed text. Brent Seales, a professor of computer science at the University of Kentucky and a co-founder of the Vesuvius Challenge, highlighted that among all the Herculaneum scrolls examined so far, the Oxford scroll contains the highest amount of recoverable text. Through X-ray scans, the chemical composition of the ink in this particular scroll is more clearly visible, leading researchers to speculate that the ink possibly contains a denser element, such as lead. However, further testing is required to precisely identify the formulation that has rendered the ink more legible compared to other scrolls involved in the Vesuvius Challenge, as indicated by the Bodleian Libraries.
“While these findings are indeed exciting, there is still much work to be done in refining our software algorithms to enable the complete decipherment of this and the other Herculaneum scrolls,” Seales remarked in a statement. Last year, Seales shared with CNN the primary challenge of virtually flattening the documents and distinguishing between the black ink and the carbonized papyrus to make the Greek and Latin text readable. He clarified that the machine-learning techniques primarily enhance the legibility of the ink used for writing, rather than deciphering the text itself. The transcription and translation of the text will rely on human scholars, including those from the University of Oxford, according to the library system.
Researchers are currently enhancing the images of the scroll in the hopes of improving the clarity of the visible text lines and potentially accessing the innermost section of the carbonized scroll, where the title of the work might be preserved. To access more CNN news and newsletters, you can sign up at CNN.com.
