Skip to main content
Back to Show
Secrets of the Dead

Decoding the Herculaneum Scrolls: AI Meets Ancient Texts

Reading the Herculaneum scrolls required multiple scientific steps that started with taking extremely high-resolution X-rays with a photon beam. Next, computer scientist Brent Seales created a deep-learning artificial intelligence program capable of examining the X-rays in minute detail. This examination identified which elements of the image were papyrus and which were ink.

Support Provided By
Season
Lost Treasures of Angkor
Unlock with PBS Passport
55:15
Priceless artifacts in Laos reveal holy sites from the early days of the Khmer Empire.
Lost Treasures of Angkor – The Discovery
Unlock with PBS Passport
55:15
The discovery of priceless artifacts in Laos sheds light on the ancient Khmer Empire.
Field of Vampires
Unlock with PBS Passport
55:15
Uncover the mystery behind the discovery of more than 50 "vampire" burials.
The Civil War's Lost Massacre
Unlock with PBS Passport
55:23
A search for the remains of Black Union soldiers murdered toward the end of the Civil War.
The Herculaneum Scrolls
Unlock with PBS Passport
55:15
Scientists attempt to read ancient scrolls carbonized by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius.
Mozart's Sister
Unlock with PBS Passport
55:15
Learn the untold story of Maria Anna Mozart, Wolfgang’s older sister and collaborator.
Returning to Babylon
Unlock with PBS Passport
54:45
Archaeologists search for Assyrian artifacts that survived the Isis occupation of Mosul.
The Princes in the Tower
Unlock with PBS Passport
55:15
Find out if the 15th-century murder of two princes in the Tower of London can be solved.
Death in Britannia
Unlock with PBS Passport
55:15
Uncover the only evidence of crucifixion in Roman-occupied Britain.
Eiffel's Race to the Top
Unlock with PBS Passport
54:45
Discover the untold story of Paris’ most famous landmark and the race to top 1,000 feet.
Jurassic Fortunes
Unlock with PBS Passport
55:01
Discover the world of dinosaur fossil collecting, an unusual hobby with a growing market.
The Sunken Basilica
Unlock with PBS Passport
55:15
Explore the sunken remains of an early Christian basilica in western Turkey.
Active loading indicator