Archaeology – Lightsources.org

The study of Gallo-Roman curse tablets discovered in Orléans continues at the PSICHÉ beamline

2026/03/042026/03/05

After conducting a first series of highly conclusive test measurements in October 2024 on the PSICHE beamline, two archaeologists from the Archaeology Department of the City of Orléans returned in December 2025 with the aim of accessing the texts inscribed on 17 Gallo-Roman curse tablets. Their five intense days of X-ray microtomography on PSICHE have already yielded a wealth of results.

In Orléans, as part of the redevelopment of the former Porte Madeleine hospital, a previously unknown Gallo-Roman necropolis was uncovered thanks to two successive archaeological excavation campaigns carried out between 2022 and 2025. During these excavations, 23 Gallo-Roman lead curse tablets (defixiones, from the Latin defixio, meaning curse or spell) were discovered in the graves, some folded in half, others completely rolled up on themselves.

In order to access the texts engraved on these fragile and precious objects, a few rare tablets were able to be opened, with great expertise and care and following a stabilisation treatment, by a conservator-restorer. However, in most cases, examination of the tablets showed that opening them manually would risk damaging them and, with them, the unique texts they bear.

Yet, using X-ray microtomography, the PSICHÉ beamline team succeeded in 2023 in virtually unrolling a 1,700-year-old lead talisman, revealing an engraved text in the Mandaean language that could then be deciphered.

Read more on the SOLEIL website

Image: At the PSICHÉ beamline workstation, meticulous preparation of the X-ray microtomography scan of a curse tablet

Credit: © SAVO, 2025

“Invisible ink” on antique Nile papyrus revealed by multiple methods

2019/08/152019/08/15

Researchers from the Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection, Berlin universities and Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin studied a small piece of papyrus that was excavated on the island of Elephantine on the River Nile a little over 100 years ago.

The team used serval methods including non-destructive techniques at BESSY II. The researchers’ work, reported in the Journal of Cultural Heritage, blazes a trail for further analyses of the papyrus collection in Berlin.

The first thing that catches an archaeologist’s eye on the small piece of papyrus from Elephantine Island on the Nile is the apparently blank patch. Researchers from the Egyptian Museum, Berlin universities and Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin have now used the synchrotron radiation from BESSY II to unveil its secret. This pushes the door wide open for analysing the giant Berlin papyrus collection and many more.

Illustration: A team of researchers examined an ancient papyrus with a supposed empty spot. With the help of several methods, they discovered which signs once stood in this place and which ink was used.
Credit: © HZB

How did humans live 5000 years ago?

2018/09/242018/09/27

Researchers from the Cyprus Institute, in collaboration with the Iranian Center of Archaeological Research, have worked around the clock for a week on ID16A to discover more about the lifestyle of our ancestors.

How did people live 5000 years ago? What did they eat? What can we learn of their health? Were they exposed to contaminants? To answer these questions with various techniques researchers first need to understand more about the preservation state of ancient human hair. In order to do this, a team from Cyprus Institute is scanning hair remains found within burials at the ancient site of Shahr-I-Sokhta, in Iran.
In this urban settlement, at a crossroads of important ancient trade routes that later became part of the Silk Road, there was busy commercial and manufacturing activity around metal and precious materials as evidenced by the artifacts found onsite during archaeological excavations. Archaeologists have also found remains of the inhabitants of the city dating to the 3^rd millennium BC, and their state of preservation is remarkable. “The climate in this area is very arid and hot, and this has led to preservation of body tissues not often found with human skeletons, including hair”, explains Kirsi Lorentz, assistant professor at the Cyprus Institute.

Image: Aerial view of the Shahr-I-Sokhta site, in Iran.
Credit: Media Rahmani

Diamond’s light illuminates our Anglo-Saxon heritage

2018/09/17

Oakington is a small, village seven miles north-west of Cambridge. Archaeological finds in the area suggest that there may have been a settlement here in the Stone Age. In 1926, horticulturalist Alan Bloom was digging at his new nursery in Oakington when he uncovered three early Anglo-Saxon burials. In the 1990s, Cambridge County Council’s Archaeological Field Unit uncovered 24 more burials, which had been discovered during the construction of a children’s playground.

Wondering what else was hidden under the Fens, archaeologists from Oxford Archaeology East (then known as CAMARC) found 17 more burials in 2006/7. And in 2010/11, a further 27 burials were found in new trenches around the playground, including the remains of children, which are rare finds from this period. The most recent excavations were part of the ‘Bones without Barriers’ project, which encourages community communication and participation.