AI helps scholars read scroll buried when Vesuvius erupted in AD79

The Guardian

Scholars of antiquity believe they are on the brink of a new era of understanding after researchers armed with artificial intelligence read the hidden text of a charred scroll that was buried when Mount Vesuvius erupted nearly 2,000 years ago.

Hundreds of papyrus scrolls held in the library of a luxury Roman villa in Herculaneum were burned to a crisp when the town was devastated by the intense blast of heat, ash and pumice that destroyed nearby Pompeii in AD79.

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Funding for this project comes from a Digital Humanities Advancement Grant and a Infrastructure and Capacity Building Challenge Grant.