Ink in Herculaneum: A Survey of Recent Perspectives

This paper provides a brief survey of the latest research concerning the types and chemical characteristics of the ink used in the Graeco-Latin papyri from Herculaneum. According to the communis opinio, the Herculaneum inks are no exception to the widespread use of carbon black ink in antiquity. This position has been recently revised on the basis of studies that use X-Ray Phase Contrast Tomography (XPCT) to show a significant presence of lead in the ink of some fragments.

This important discovery allows for the possibility of using lead as a contrast agent in order to distinguish the writing from the support in still rolled volumina through exposure to synchrotron light.