AI unlocks Herculaneum's secrets as scientists read charred scrolls without opening them

A team working with the University of Kentucky's Vesuvius Challenge has achieved a milestone in classical archaeology: the complete decipherment of a Herculaneum scroll without ever unrolling it. According to CBS News, the breakthrough uses artificial intelligence to read the charred papyrus, which emerged from the Villa of the Papyri in the 1750s. The scroll, carbonized by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius nearly 2,000 years ago, has yielded philosophical texts on ethics, the arts, human behaviour and theology, according to NBC News. The achievement represents what Gizmodo called a "complete non-invasive" reading of a text that, until now, had resisted all attempts at decryption.

The technology employed by the team scans the fragile carbonized papyrus with high-resolution imaging, then applies machine-learning algorithms to detect the faint ink traces invisible to the human eye. According to Artnet News, the team deciphered the scroll "without ever unraveling it," preserving the object for future study. Live Science reported that experts have "unraveled substantial new text" from two carbonized Herculaneum scrolls using this method. The Villa of the Papyri, buried ten miles from Pompeii, contained thousands of such scrolls—most still sealed and unread. This breakthrough suggests that the vast library, long thought lost to history, may yet yield its contents without the destructive unrolling that previous conservation attempts required.

For Campania, the discovery carries both scientific and cultural weight. Pompeii and Herculaneum draw hundreds of thousands of international visitors annually, and the region's museums and archaeological sites depend on the mystique of the ancient world. The scrolls, held in Naples and other institutions, have long symbolized the region's role as custodian of Roman civilization. The AI breakthrough, anchored in international research partnerships, positions Campania's archaeological heritage at the centre of a global scientific frontier—one that promises to recover texts that shape how the world understands classical philosophy, ethics and daily life in the ancient world.