New technique ‘ virtually unravels’ scrolls

Researchers at Cardiff University have developed new scientific techniques to reveal hidden text inside damaged and unreadable scrolls. Known as ‘virtual unravelling’, the technique uses X-ray tomography and has successfully revealed the text inside a badly burnt scroll from the 16th century. The scroll, which was severely charred, damaged and fused together, has been identified as a manorial court record dealing with land transactions.

Cardiff experts read this severely burnt 16th-century scroll using X-rays