![]() ![]() Both of these findings may have some effect on other archaeological studies. However, its actual chemical composition can strongly influence the choice of the imaging technique to be used and the wavelengths to be selected. In our previous study ( 21), where X-ray phase contrast tomography was applied to unrolled Herculaneum scrolls, we first assumed that the ink was carbon-based. The finding of metal in the ink radically modifies our knowledge of Greek and Latin writing in antiquity and might strongly influence the analysis of unopened papyrus rolls ( 21) and other ancient manuscripts. To conclude, we have demonstrated that in the ink present on two Herculaneum fragments there is a high concentration of lead, and that the scribes used straight and thick horizontal papyrus fibers to guide the writing of letters in straight lines. Thereafter, metallic inks became the standard for parchments in late antiquity and for most of the Middle Ages ( 4, 7). However, a metallic iron-gall mixture was definitely elaborated and then adopted as a new writing ink for parchments beginning from around 420 AD ( 10, 11), because for this different kind of support, another, more adherent, ink was required. demonstrate the use of metal in inks in an ancient Egyptian papyrus ( 9), although none of those special inks has ever been mentioned in a Greco-Roman calligraphic context. The occasional use of metallic ink before this period has been known: it is reported to be used for writing secret messages in the second century BC ( 8), and Pliny remarks that papyrus soaked in tannin turns black after contact with a solution of iron salt ( 1). In the case of the most ancient manuscripts, and particularly the literary papyri both in Greek and Latin, it has been assumed that the ink used for writing was carbon-based, at least until the fourth to fifth centuries AD ( 4, 6, 7). Pliny the Elder carefully describes the carbon-based ink used in his time, which was obtained from smoke from wood burnt in furnaces, without any deliberate addition of metal ( 1). The same historical considerations apply to the chemical composition of the inks used in antiquity. Turner ( 3) argued that some material, no longer visible, was perhaps used for ruled lines on papyri however, this claim cannot be supported by material evidence in the present state of paleographical knowledge ( 3, 5). PIXEL CHECK MARK BOX PAPYRUS SERIESIf ruling lines is a well-established practice for writing on parchment supports in the Middle Ages ( 4), it is generally recognized that they were not necessary in papyri, the fibrous structure of which has been deemed sufficient for enabling the good alignment of written lines, even if their horizontal spacing was sometimes marked by a series of vertical dots. Capital letters, initially found in Greek manuscripts, then in Latin documents, and later in all of the languages based on Roman scripts (such as most Western and Central European languages, as well as many languages from other parts of the world), are based on this bilinear characteristic ( 3). Starting from the earliest examples, the writing that Greeks imported from Phoenicia is characterized by a quite regular layout, with letters evenly written between imaginary parallel lines ( 2). The development of alphabetic writing is one of the crucial steps in the history of Western civilization ( 1). ![]()
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