2026年6月26日 / 美国东部时间上午9:55 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
记者：凯瑞·布林 新闻编辑
研究人员周四宣布，肯塔基大学一项利用人工智能破解古罗马谜团的项目取得了重大发现。
公元79年，维苏威火山爆发掩埋了罗马城市庞贝和附近的赫库兰尼姆镇。18世纪，考古学家在赫库兰尼姆的一次发掘中，在一座被维苏威火山喷发摧毁的别墅遗址深处，发现了一座保存完好的古代图书馆，内有1800卷纸莎草卷轴。但读取这些卷轴几乎不可能：卷轴脆弱且被烧焦，一旦展开就会化为灰烬。
几个世纪以来，研究人员一直致力于解读这些卷轴。近年来的技术带来了突破：粒子加速器和人工智能被用于识别墨迹，即使是微弱的痕迹，让研究人员能够虚拟展开这些脆弱的卷轴。但解读这种古老语言则是另一项完全不同的工程。
2023年，布伦特·西尔斯发起了“维苏威挑战”全球竞赛，为能够成功解读文字的参赛者提供奖金。2024年，三名大学生首次从碳化卷轴中提取出了文字，但他们仅解读了一卷卷轴中约5%的内容。
此次挑战赛的第二阶段带来了周四的重大发现。牵头这项研究的肯塔基大学斯坦利和卡伦·皮格曼工程学院与那不勒斯的温贝托一世国家图书馆合作表示，专家们已经虚拟展开了一整卷卷轴，从另一卷卷轴中复原了超过70列文字，识别出了两本古罗马失传古籍，并复原了“足够支撑新的权威学术版本的文本”。
尼科拉尔迪表示，虚拟展开的编号为PHerc. 1667的卷轴是馆藏中最古老的卷轴之一。如今它已经被“展开”，确定其作者身份的工作正在进行中。其中一本被发现的古籍显示，哲学家菲洛德穆斯曾撰写过一套八卷本的著作，此前人们仅知其中一卷存世。
“近两千年来，这些文本中有许多在物理上得以保存，但在知识层面却无法触及，”西尔斯在一份新闻稿中表示。“今天——经过多年融合先进成像、人工智能、学术研究和创新竞赛的跨学科工作——我们终于能够读懂它们了。”
此次披露的文本数量意味着学者们可以将卷轴作为完整的论证来阅读，而非零散的碎片。那不勒斯费德里科二世大学纸草学助理教授费代丽卡·尼科拉尔迪表示，这标志着研究领域迎来了“变革性的转变”。
“今天，我们听到了沉默了2000年的声音，”西尔斯说。“我们首次发现并读懂了它们——但最重要的是，我们开始理解它们的含义。”
不过，仍有超过600卷卷轴尚未开启和解读。“维苏威挑战”项目负责人乔治·安杰洛蒂表示，这项工作“仍在进行中”，考古学家需要“所有人的帮助来解读这些卷轴”。西尔斯认为，整个图书馆的卷轴都可以被破译。
“这不再仅仅关乎成像或机器学习，”西尔斯说。“现在我们需要能够阅读、编辑并理解其内容的专家。”
Scientists decipher new secrets from ancient scrolls scorched by Vesuvius eruption: “Finally able to read them”
June 26, 2026 / 9:55 AM EDT / CBS News
By Kerry Breen News Editor
A University of Kentucky project using artificial intelligence to help decode an ancient Roman mystery has led to a major discovery, researchers announced Thursday.
In 79 A.D., the eruption of Mount Vesuvius buried the Roman city of Pompeii and the nearby town of Herculaneum. During a dig in Herculaneum in the 18th century, archaeologists found 1,800 papyrus scrolls in an intact ancient library, deep under the site of a villa that was destroyed by Vesuvius’ eruption. But reading them was impossible: The scrolls are brittle and charred, and unravelling them turns them into ash.
For centuries, researchers have worked to interpret the scrolls. Recent technology led to a breakthrough: A particle accelerator and AI were used to identify ink, even faint traces, allowing researchers to virtually unwrap the delicate scrolls. But interpreting the ancient language is another project entirely.
An unrolled Herculaneum scroll. National Library of Naples
In 2023, Brent Seales launched the Vesuvius Challenge, a global competition offering prize money for those who can help interpret the writing. Three college students became the first to extract words from a carbonized scroll in 2024. But they only interpreted about 5% of one scroll.
The second phase of the challenge led to Thursday’s major discovery. The University of Kentucky’s Stanley and Karen Pigman School of Engineering, which leads the research in collaboration with the Biblioteca Nazionale di Napoli Vittorio Emanuele III in Naples, said that experts have virtually unwrapped one entire scroll, recovered more than 70 columns of text from another, identified two new books from ancient Rome, and recovered “sufficient text to support new critical scholarly editions.”
The virtually unwrapped scroll, PHerc. 1667, is one of the oldest in the collection, Nicolardi said. Now that it has been unrolled, efforts to determine the authorship of the paper is underway. One of the books revealed that the philosopher Philodemus wrote an eight-book series. Only one book had been previously known to exist.
“For nearly two millennia, many of these texts have been physically preserved but intellectually inaccessible,” Seales said in a news release. “Today — after years of interdisciplinary work combining advanced imaging, artificial intelligence (AI), academic research and an innovation contest — we are finally able to read them.”
A virtually unwrapped piece of one scroll shows ancient Greek text. Vesuvius Challenge
The amount of text revealed means scholars can read the scrolls as complete arguments, rather than as fragments. Federica Nicolardi, an assistant professor in papyrology at the Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II in Naples, said that marks a “transformational shift” for researchers.
“Today, we are hearing voices that have been silent for 2,000 years,” Seales said. “For the first time, we are uncovering and reading them — but most importantly — we are beginning to understand them.”
Still, more than 600 scrolls remain unopened and unread. Giorgio Angelotti, a project lead with the Vesuvius Challenge, said the effort is “ongoing” and that archaeologists need “everyone’s help to read the scrolls.” Seales said he believes the entire library can be deciphered.
“This is no longer just about imaging or machine learning,” Seales said. “Now we need experts who can read, edit and understand what they are saying.”
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