100 WVIA Way
Pittston, PA 18640

Phone: 570-826-6144
Fax: 570-655-1180

Copyright © 2025 WVIA, all rights reserved. WVIA is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

The Herculaneum Scrolls

Season 21 Episode 6 | 55m 15s

Making headlines around the world, Brent Seales and his team of computer scientists set out on a mission to read the 2,000-year-old carbonized scrolls found in the remains of a villa in Herculaneum. Mt. Vesuvius’s eruption in 79 AD transformed the papyri, fusing together the layers of the scrolls and making them impossible to read. Can particle physics and AI finally reveal what the scrolls say?

Aired: 10/15/24 | Expires: 03/11/26
SECRETS OF THE DEAD is made possible, in part, by public television viewers.
Extras
Explore the site of the Battle of Camden and its importance to the American Revolution.
DNA may help identify a soldier killed at the Battle of Camden.
A metal detector survey reveals long-lost soldiers at Camden Battlefield.
A musket ball reveals the deadly reality of Revolutionary War combat.
Formerly enslaved Americans formed Britain's Colonial Marines unit and marched on Washington, D.C.
Scientists race to save the historic island on the Chesapeake Bay from rising sea levels.
The search for a sunken fort uncovers a powerful freedom story.
Tangier Island's lawns are turning into marshes. Can oyster reefs help?
A controversial symbol was removed from Lady Liberty's original design. Here's why.
Rare photographs reveal how the Statue of Liberty was constructed piece by piece.
Latest Episodes
All
Explore the site of the Battle of Camden and its importance to the American Revolution.
Scientists race to save the historic island on the Chesapeake Bay from rising sea levels.
See how the unique partnership between two countries made the iconic monument possible.
New discoveries reveal how pivotal Great Zimbabwe was to global trade.
The chance discovery of a jade artifact unearths an ancient Chinese city.
A professor seeks to prove Arthurian legends have roots in actual British history.
Experts search for evidence that female gladiators once existed in Ancient Rome.
Could the discovery of a third portrait of William Shakespeare be a genuine article?
Scientists study medieval bubonic plague victims in hopes of preventing future outbreaks.
See how secret letters written by Mary, Queen of Scots, were finally decoded.