Decoding Herculaneum Papyrus Scrolls using the Diamond Light Source

Senior Detector Scientist at STFC, Jens Dopke tells us about the work helping to reveal the contents of the most iconic items in a Roman-era library, the Herculaneum scrolls.
Diamond Light Source is a third-generation synchrotron light source facility based at Harwell Campus, South Oxfordshire.
Diamond produces X-ray, infrared and ultra-violet beams. These highly focused beams of light enable scientists and engineers to probe deep into the basic structure of matter and materials, answering fundamental questions about everything from the building blocks of life to the origin of our planet.
The Diamond Light Source Ltd is funded by the STFC and the Wellcome Trust, owning 86% and 14% of the shares respectively.
To find out more please visit our website www.stfc.ukri.org
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[@carloscarvalhar9129]

After two years, what happened?? Any new text?

[@asienlatierra]

It is one of the most exciting things that I always have in mind when I think about priceless and irreplaceable treasures from the past: finding a technique (which I assume would have to be an ultra-sensitive and meticulous, multiple scan that would detect what was written on each layer) and some machines even made ad hoc for it.
Thinking about being able to read entire libraries like these, and others that undoubtedly (I suppose under essentially the same conditions) will be in Pompeii and Herculaneum.
The amount of direct data, copies of the moment, literature of classics and minor authors of which we had no idea or had nothing..., in addition to historical records of businesses, laws and trials, etc etc...
It's one of the things I really get excited thinking about.
I do not know if there is even the possibility of finding writings from the classical period of this type in places or on supports that have been well preserved: for example, on parchments or other supports, and buried, hidden, or buried in dry, desert climates. ...etc. But I don't think it is even remotely comparable to what the inhabitants of two rich cities at the time of the disaster could give us.
Good luck with the investigations.
I believe it is a unique project but also with incalculable repercussions. And it is there. Or to dig up, but in a known area.
If it were possible to successfully access all this written documentation as a first-hand source, its importance for Western culture and its history would be much greater than the historical data that the remains of the two cities can give us. Of a different nature and category, but also more transcendent.
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Es una de las cosas más excitantes que siempre tengo en mente cuando pienso en tesoros del pasado de valor incalculable e insustibuíbles: dar con una técnica ( que doy por hecho que tendría que ser un escaneado ultrasensible y meticuloso, y múltiple que detectase lo escrito en cada capa ) y unas máquinas incluso hechas ad hoc para ello.
Pensando en poder leer bibliotecas enterass como éstas, y otras que sin duda ( supongo que en igual condiciones esencialmente) habrá en Pompeya y Herculano.
La cantidad de datos directos, copias del momento, literatura de clásicos y de autores menores de los que no teníamos idea o no teníamos nada...., además de registros históricos de negocios, leyes y juicios, etc etc....
Es una de las cosas que realmente me emociono pensando.
No sé si hay la posibilidad siquiera de encontrar escritos de la época clasica de este tipo en sitios o en soportes que se hayan podido consevar bien: por ejemplo , en pergaminos u otros soportes, y enterrados , escondidos, o sepultados en climas secos, deserticos...etc. Pero no creo que sea ni de lejos comparable a lo que los habitantes de dos ciudades ricas de la época del desastre nos podrían aportar.
Suerte con las investigaciones.
Yo creo que es un proyecto único pero también de repercusiones incalculables. Y está ahí. O por desenterrar, pero en un área conocida.
Si se lograse acceder con éxito a toda esa documentación escrita como fuente de primera mano , su importancia para la cultura occidental y la historia de la misma sería mucho mayor que los datos históricos que nos puedan dar los restos de las dos ciudades. De naturaleza y categoría distinta, pero también más transcendente.

[@davideascaniovisconti-borg459]

WOW... a sort of miracle, then.
Amazing accomplishment, congrats!

[@categories5066]

I cant wait till all have been decoded

[@moesypittounikos]

This is more an advert for the diamond light technology rather than useful info

[@naraartmusic2855]

👍🙏Wow super video👌💟