Researchers may soon be able to read long-lost ancient scrolls damaged by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE, according to a study published Sept. 16, 2026, in the journal PLOS One. The Herculaneum papyri scrolls were discovered in the ruins of the town of Herculaneum, near Naples, Italy. During the volcanic eruption, the scrolls were buried under 65–70 feet (20–21 meters) of rock and ash, which "carbonized" them in the extreme heat, making them very brittle. While some of the scrolls have been opened and read, revealing previously unknown writings by Epicurus and other ancient thinkers, many have proven too fragile to study. X-ray tomography and artificial intelligence have recently allowed researchers to virtually "unroll" some of the scrolls and read parts of the text. However, X-rays have struggled to distinguish the text because the ink and papyrus are made of similar materials: carbon. Some of the Herculaneum scroll letters, though, have been found to contain lead. Since X-rays can more easily distinguish between papyrus and lead, the authors of the new paper suggest scanning the scrolls for lead and then attempting to virtually unroll those that contain it. To test this method, the team recreated some carbonized scrolls by writing on new papyrus using ink with various concentrations of lead, then heating the scrolls in a high-temperature furnace to carbonize them. X-ray fluorescence was able to detect lead in the scrolls at each lead concentration level. X-ray tomography, combined with a custom software program, allowed the team to reread some of the words they had written on these scrolls. The recreated scrolls could be used to train AI systems to better interpret ancient texts. The study found that the papyrus scrolls are prepared with inks of varying lead concentrations that an AI algorithm can detect via X-ray tomography. Researchers created a fake papyrus scroll with lead-based ink and "carbonized" it to match the conditions of the scrolls found at Herculaneum. Using X-ray fluorescence, they confirmed that the scrolls contained ink with varying levels of lead. Then, they used X-ray tomography with custom software to re-read some of the text they had written. The technique allowed them to read the lead-based ink writings in the scrolls, even with very small amounts of lead. While not all the writings could be deciphered, the method was able to detect differences between the text and the papyrus it was written on. If applied to other Herculaneum scrolls, this technique could give these ancient writings a "higher probability of being successfully read," the study noted.