‘Unsolved Cases in Archaeology’CSMC Researchers Appear on Terra X

25 February 2026

Photo: ZDF

CSMC researchers Greg Nehring and Olivier Bonnerot in the Artefact Lab at the centre.

A new episode of the popular science programme on ZDF is devoted to ‘magical symbols’ and their deciphering. Several researchers from the CSMC are featured in it.

Written artefacts are the raw material that helps us gain an understanding of history. However, this material is full of gaps and unsolved mysteries: many historical writing systems still cannot be read today; and even in some cases where reading itself is not a problem, other circumstances prevent us from gaining insight into the past: for example, when the documents are stored in envelopes that themselves have historical value and must not be destroyed.

A new episode of the popular science programme Terra X takes an in-depth look at the undisclosed secrets of historical writings and written artefacts. Several researchers from the CSMC appear right at the beginning of the programme: Cécile Michel, Christian Schroer, and the ENCI team explain the mobile computer tomographs they used to look inside sealed Mesopotamian clay envelopes containing cuneiform tablets for the first time. The images were taken at DESY, the CSMC’s partner in this research project. Filming also took place in the buildings of the centre: In the rooms of the Artefact Lab, the film crew captured insights into the CSMC’s cross-disciplinary work.

The programme will be broadcast this Sunday, 1 March 2026, at 7:30 pm on ZDF. It is already available for streaming in the broadcaster’s media library.