Engineers at the University of Florence have successfully deployed a new technology called Quantum-Optical Tomography (QOT) to read text inside sealed vessels without opening them. The first trial was conducted on a series of 1st-century BCE Etruscan funerary urns. The results revealed complex dedicatory inscriptions and names of the deceased that had been hidden for over two millennia.
This non-invasive method uses entangled photons to map the internal surfaces of objects at a sub-millimeter scale. Unlike traditional X-rays, QOT can distinguish between different types of ancient inks and pigments, allowing researchers to 'see' the color and texture of scrolls or painted ceramics encased within stone or metal containers. This technology is expected to revolutionize the study of Hellenistic and Roman funerary caches.