New super-camera turned on enigmatic ancient writing

Joanne Carver, reporter

(Images: University of Oxford)

High-definition imaging still has a cutting-edge ring to it, but it could bring us the solution to a mystery that's been puzzling scholars for nearly as long as scholars have existed. With the newly developed Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) system, we can examine ancient artefacts better than ever before - which means there's a chance at deciphering at last an engimatic script from 5000 years ago.

Proto-Elamite is the world's oldest undeciphered script, used between 3200 and 3000 BC in what is now Iran. Although it has some similarities with Mesopotamian, 80 to 90 per cent of it isn't understood.

"I have spent the past 10 years trying to decipher the proto-Elamite writing system and, with this new technology, I think we are finally on the point of making a breathrough," said Jacob Dahl of the University of Oxford, a co-leader of the Cuneiform Digital Library.

The RTI, developed by researchers at the University of Oxford and the University of Southampton, UK, is essentially a dome with 76 lights and a camera at the top (see above). After placing a manuscript or artefact in the centre, the object is photographed 76 times, each time with just one of the lights on. Afterward, the images are merged and uploaded to the Cuneiform Digital Library website for free access. The finished image allows observers to virtually move light across the object and better see the subtle differences hidden by shadow or light in ordinary photographs.

"The quality of the images captured is incredible," Dali said. "And it is important to remember that you cannot decipher a writing system without having reliable images because you will, for example, overlook differences barely visible to the naked eye which may have meaning."

The Louvre museum in Paris, France, has allowed the RTI team access to its 1100 proto-Elamite tablets. More scholars will now be able to access and study them, and the hope is that they will crack the code. Then, we'll all be forced to admit that high definition has advanced the human race.

Source: http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/492992/s/24caca4b/l/0L0Snewscientist0N0Cblogs0Cshortsharpscience0C20A120C10A0Cnew0Esuper0Ecamera0Eturned0Eon0Eeni0Bhtml/story01.htm

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