Scientists have given a status report on their efforts to use CT scans and artificial intelligence to decipher rolled-up papyrus scrolls that were buried in volcanic ash almost 2,000 years ago.
The researchers say they’ve found hints that one of the scrolls was written more than a century before the eruption, which destroyed the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in the year 79. Another partially deciphered scroll hints that the collection may well reveal previously unknown lore about Roman and Greek mythology.
It’s the latest chapter in a scientific quest that began 274 years ago.