16.9: Detecting the Presence of Text

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X-radiography and examination under infrared or ultraviolet light have all been in use by conservators for some time to detect obscured surface detail, such as writing. Perhaps the most exciting example of detecting text, while minimising risk to the material, is represented by the work of the EDUCE project (Enhanced Digital Unwrapping for Conservation and Exploration). This uses micro CT (computerised tomography) to detect carbon ink, and thus text, obscured by folds in documents or by overlying pages, and was first used to ‘virtually flatten’ distorted manuscripts at the British Library. The technique shows considerable promise in detecting text within multi-layered documents and may prove to be a successful means for virtually unrolling and reading the ancient scrolls from Herculaneum — but this is more difficult since many of these are, themselves, at least partially carbonised (Baumann et al. 2008; International Institute for Conservation 2009b).