Tra i disiecta membra di antichi rotoli carbonizzati: un confronto metodologico tra il papiro di Derveni e i papiri di Ercolano

This paper offers a comparative analysis on the difficulties concerning the virtual reconstruction of carbonized papyri opened with different methods: the Herculaneum papyri, unrolled with Piaggio’s machine, and the Derveni papyrus, opened by Anton Fackelmann. Its ultimate purpose is twofold: it aims (1) to examine similarities and differences in the reconstruction of papyrus-rolls which have undergone different kinds of carbonization, and (2) to shed light on the methodological contribution provided by Herculaneum papyrology in the reconstruction of other carbonized papyri. After a general presentation of the findings and the opening and conservation of the Derveni papyrus, the paper explores the differences in the study of the Herculaneum papyri and the Derveni papyrus concerning, in particular, (1) the inventory and archival material, (2) autopsy, and (3) the material conditions of the fragments. The final part of the paper focuses on the reconstruction of the Derveni roll and, more specifically, of the first columns of the papyrus as they have been reconstructed by Piano in her forthcoming edition.