Tracking ink composition on Herculaneum papyrus scrolls: quantification and speciation of lead by X-ray based techniques and Monte Carlo simulations - Sorbonne Université
Journal Articles Scientific Reports Year : 2016

Tracking ink composition on Herculaneum papyrus scrolls: quantification and speciation of lead by X-ray based techniques and Monte Carlo simulations

Abstract

The writing in carbonized Herculaneum scrolls, covered and preserved by the pyroclastic events of the Vesuvius in 79 AD, was recently revealed using X-ray phase-contrast tomography, without the need of unrolling the sensitive scrolls. Unfortunately, some of the text is difficult to read due to the interference of the papyrus fibers crossing the written text vertically and horizontally. Recently, lead was found as an elemental constituent in the writing, rendering the text more clearly readable when monitoring the lead X-ray fluorescence signal. Here, several hypotheses are postulated for the origin and state of lead in the papyrus writing. Multi-scale X-ray fluorescence micro-imaging, Monte Carlo quantification and X-ray absorption microspectroscopy experiments are used to provide additional information on the ink composition, in an attempt to determine the origin of the lead in the Herculaneum scrolls and validate the postulated hypotheses.
Fichier principal
Vignette du fichier
srep20763.pdf (804.88 Ko) Télécharger le fichier
Origin Publication funded by an institution
Loading...

Dates and versions

hal-01279464 , version 1 (26-02-2016)

Licence

Identifiers

Cite

Pieter Tack, Marine Cotte, Stephen Bauters, Emmanuel Brun, Dipanjan Banerjee, et al.. Tracking ink composition on Herculaneum papyrus scrolls: quantification and speciation of lead by X-ray based techniques and Monte Carlo simulations. Scientific Reports, 2016, 6, pp.20763. ⟨10.1038/srep20763⟩. ⟨hal-01279464⟩
341 View
174 Download

Altmetric

Share

More