Re:A Herculaneum scroll has been read for the first time
by fph on Thursday June 25, 2026 @05:40PM
(#48679564)
Random shower thought: I wonder if it would be better in the long term to stop digging out archeological findings. The more we excavate, the more damage we do for future archaeologists who will have the superpower of reading these texts without even needing to dig the scrolls free and open them.
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Re:A Herculaneum scroll has been read for the first time
by Centigonal on Thursday June 25, 2026 @05:54PM
(#48679724)
There is an active debate on exactly this topic when it comes to whether or not to excavate the tomb of Qin Shi Huang.
Re:A Herculaneum scroll has been read for the first time
by flir on Thursday June 25, 2026 @05:50PM
(#48679677)
Modern archaeologists are painfully aware that theirs is a destructive science, and do their best to mitigate that. The most extreme example is probably the tomb of the First Emperor, Qin Shi Huang, where official policy on excavation can be boiled down to "not yet".
Re:A Herculaneum scroll has been read for the first time
by verditelabs on Thursday June 25, 2026 @05:52PM
(#48679705)
We stand on the shoulders of those that came before us. People have been trying to unroll and read the scrolls for 250 some odd years now. Had they not laid the groundwork for all that time we wouldn't be making the progress we are now.
Re:A Herculaneum scroll has been read for the first time
by kylemaxwell on Thursday June 25, 2026 @08:18PM
(#48680910)
Archaeologists think about this a lot. Many digs leave portions intact specifically so that future scientists, with access to techniques and technologies beyond what's available now, can research them.