First Complete Herculaneum Scroll Read Intact Using Machine Learning and CT Scans

Researchers have virtuually unwrapped and read an entire carbonized scroll from Herculaneum—buried by Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD—without physical contact. Micro-CT scanning captured 3D density data; machine learning detected faint ink traces on carbon papyrus invisible to standard imaging. The Vesuvius Challenge competition refined the pipeline from first word (February 2024) to complete document. Hundreds of unread scrolls remain in the library, the only intact ancient collection to survive antiquity.