Complete virtual unwrapping and reading of a rolled Herculaneum papyrus
The carbonized papyri from Herculaneum preserve the only large-scale library to survive from classical antiquity, but many unopened rolls remain unread because physical opening risks irreversible damage. X-ray computed microtomography ($μ$CT) and virtual unwrapping offer a non-invasive route to their texts, yet previous work on sealed Herculaneum scrolls has recovered only localized readings or limited surface regions. Here, using high-resolution phase-contrast $μ$CT acquired on the BM18 beamline at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), together with improved computational unrolling and machine learning, we achieve the complete virtual unwrapping and reading of PHerc. 1667 u...
| Authors | Giorgio Angelotti, Stephen Parsons, Federica Nicolardi et al. |
|---|---|
| Primary category | eess.IV |
| Published | 27 June 2026 |
| Last updated at source | 27 June 2026 |
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