Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Scienze del Patrimonio Culturale (ISPC), Via Biblioteca, 4, 95124, Catania, Italy.
Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, Via Santa Sofia 62, 95123, Catania, Italy.
Sci Rep. 2023 Apr 21;13(1):6582. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-33242-8.
The use of lead-drawn ruling lines by ancient scribes for the layout of Greek papyrus rolls was known to us only from classical authors and was postulated by a few scholars in modern times. In situ application of noninvasive Macro X-Ray Fluorescence Imaging Spectroscopy (MA-XRF) to unrolled papyri from Herculaneum, dating from about 200 BC to the 1st century AD, has provided the first direct evidence of such practice in ancient book production. The key experimental proof of periodic lines drawn in lead was gathered by a highly sensitive MA-XRF mobile instrument, which allowed detection of ultra-low trace residues of metals with detection limits that rival synchrotron light instruments. Elemental distribution maps of Pb have revealed three different systems of textual layout in ancient papyrus rolls and have resolved the dispute around so-called Maas' Law, by delivering experimental proof that slanted text columns were a deliberate aesthetic choice of scribes.
古代抄写员使用铅笔画出的标线来布局希腊纸莎草纸卷，这一点我们仅从古典作家那里知晓，并被现代的一些学者假设。非侵入式宏观 X 射线荧光成像光谱（MA-XRF）在原位应用于来自赫库兰尼姆的未卷纸莎草纸，这些纸莎草纸的年代约为公元前 200 年至公元 1 世纪，首次提供了古代书籍制作中这种实践的直接证据。周期性铅线的关键实验证据是通过高度灵敏的 MA-XRF 移动仪器收集的，该仪器可以检测到超低痕量金属残留，其检测限可与同步辐射光仪器相媲美。Pb 的元素分布图揭示了古代纸莎草纸卷中三种不同的文本布局系统，并通过提供实验证据解决了所谓的 Maas 定律的争议，证明倾斜的文本列是抄写员故意的美学选择。
