The scrolls can't be unrolled so the Vesuvius Challenge was launched to find alternative methods. Why the Herculaneum scrolls can't be read like normalWhen Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE, Pompeii wasn't the only town it obliterated. Those ancient scrolls then lay buried in mud for 1,700 years until they were finally excavated in 1752. AdvertisementAdvertisementAny attempts to unfurl the Herculaneum scrolls, which now resemble charcoal logs, would damage them beyond repair. Seth Parker and Brent Seales of the Digital Restoration Initiative project scan a replica of the Herculaneum scroll.

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Persons: —, Luke Farritor, Farritor, Seth Parker, Brent Seales, University of Naples Federico, there's, University of Oxford Seales, it's Organizations: Service, University of Nebraska, University of Kentucky, University of Naples, Bodleian, University of Oxford Bodleian Library, University of Oxford Locations: Herculaneum