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NON-DESTRUCTIVE EVALUATION OF DAMAGED ANCIENT SCROLLS USING NMR AND PIXE SCANNING TO SEPARATE TEXT FROM THE SCROLL BACKGROUND COMBINED WITH 3D VIRTUAL UNROLLING


EMSL Project ID
25423

Abstract

In 79 A.D. Mt. Vesius in Italy erupted with the resulting pyroclastic flow destroying the nearby cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Preserved under 75 feet of ash, a seaside villa owned by Julius Caesar's father-in-law, Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus, was discovered which contained numerous papyrus scrolls carbonized by the intense heat of the pyroclastic flow (800-950C) . Attempts to open the scrolls resulted in many being completely destroyed. Others, slowly teased open in a laborious process yielded little information at first, however newly developed techniques including multispectral imaging has uncovered text on these previously unreadable documents. However, this multispectral imaging only addresses the scrolls that have already been opened. Due to the physically destructive process by which the delicate scrolls were unraveled, this technique has now been abandoned. In August 2006, the NSF awarded a continuing grant for the development of a system for the virtual unwrapping and visualization of ancient texts through the use of a custom built, high-resolution CT scanner to create a virtual copy of the document. Advanced 3D imaging techniques could then be used to straighten the documents or even unroll a scroll.

Project Details

Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
Start Date
2007-07-30
End Date
2009-09-30
Status
Closed

Team

Principal Investigator

Edward Iuliano
Institution
Columbia Basin Imaging

Team Members

Matthew Field
Institution
University of Kentucky

Ryan Baumann
Institution
University of Kentucky

William Seales
Institution
University of Kentucky