Articles by Michele Silani

The short note illustrates the activities carried out within the ‘Almaidea’ project of the University of Bologna for the reconstruction of the ancient funerary landscape of the Davanzali necropolis in Numana. While waiting for new geological-geomorphological research aimed at the acquisition of data at a territorial scale, the landscape shapes, reconstructed so far on the basis of published data, are recalled for the contextualization of the necropolis sector under study. Attention is focused on geomatic techniques for the documentation of the different ancient topographical plans, the starting point for subsequent topographical reconstructions of the evolution of the landscape of the necropolis over the centuries.

The Asculum Project started in 2012 by the Bologna University in agreement with the former Soprintendenza per iBeni Archeologici delle Marche and the Municipality of Ascoli Piceno, mainly as a project of urban archaeology and preventative archaeology in a city which has been inhabited for a very long period of time. A proper integrated methodology and the combination of a wide range of data, including that gathered from geophysical surveys, archaeological digs, historic cartography, bibliographic and archival data, allowed us to reconstruct the cityscape during the Roman Age and its development over the centuries. The understanding of the ancient urban landscape also included a detailed morphological study aimed at the reconstruction of the Roman paleosurface, carried out using data derived from coring samples and stratigraphic digs. In parallel, particular attention was directed to the modern 3D documentation of the historical buildings of the city, by means of laser scanner and the analysis of the stratigraphy of the surviving walls. The new surveys covered, in particular, the still extant Roman buildings, such as the temples incorporated by the churches of San Venanzio and San Gregorio Magno, as well as the Sostruzioni dell’Annunziata. These last acquisitions made it possible to reconstruct the overall layout and urban plan of the town during the Roman Age, as well as to shed new light on the conformation of the ancient landscape at the time of the oldest Piceni settlement. One of the most interesting aspects of the operating practices applied in the project was to reconcile the needs for preservation and research with the aim of a sustainable urban development.

The project described in this paper was started in 2012 and concerns the study of the relationship between the urban and suburban districts of the Phoenician and Punic city of Tharros (Cabras, Oristano). The structures of Phoenician and Punic Tharros have been largely cancelled by the Roman occupation. For this reason it is very difficult to determine the original function of many of the neighbourhoods during the Carthaginian period. The archaeological excavation primarily involved the southern necropolis of Capo San Marco. The cemetery must still be fully explored and understood under several aspects, mainly because of the devastation of the site caused by the repeated plundering of the ancient tombs which occurred during the 19th century. In addition to the new dig activities, a 3D topographical survey aimed at the complete documentation of the site and at the virtual rebuilding of the Phoenician and Punic funerary landscape was completed. Another goal of the project is the insertion of this sector of the promontory into the usual tourist route, in order to foster the public fruition of Capo San Marco, while continuing to adopt proper scientific methods and modern techniques. In this direction, geophysical prospecting surveys were carried out in the southern sector of the Capo San Marco, near the so-called ‘Rustic Temple’, in order to assess human presence in the farthest point of the Sinis peninsula (characterised by the presence of the Late Punic ruins of a probable light-house with sacred functions), and across the whole isthmus Sa Codriola towards the hill of San Giovanni, with the aim of analysing the northern boundary of the cemetery and its relationship to the city. The Punic-Roman settlement is now enclosed in the archaeological park, which is a fraction of what was supposed to be the administrative capital of Carthage in Sardinia. 3D modelling and virtual reconstructions were focused also on the residential Punic and Roman area inside the park. The integrated application of the most advanced topographical and geophysical techniques to the site greatly contributed to the recording and understanding of the ancient landscape.

In 2015 the Department of History and Cultures of the Bologna University took part in the Grande Progetto Pompei - Piano della Conoscenza, with the task of providing a modern and complete documentation of the so-called Lotto 3 in Pompeii. The new survey was carried out by means of integrated innovative diagnostic survey techniques in order to provide a total documentary research of the whole sector. In 2016 a new project was started in agreement with the competent Superintendency, and focused on the study and preservation of the House of Obellio Firmo, included in the Lotto 3 of the Roman city. The new research contemplates an in-depth analysis of the building, employing systematic laser scanning and photogrammetry methods to generate an accurate 3D model of the house. This model is going to constitute the starting point for the further analysis of the wall stratigraphies and for the mapping and monitoring of the structures’ state of decay. The full-scale analytical documentation of the building also includes a detailed geophysical mapping of all the accessible domestic spaces, by using the ground penetrating radar technique. The preliminary results achieved by the non-invasive prospecting survey, integrated with the analysis of the surviving walls and building techniques, supply valid information for the archaeological interpretation of the house’s history. In order to allow the management and sharing of the information collected, the data are going to be organised within a building information model (BIM) with a triple objective: the reconstruction of a fragment of the ancient urban landscape in Pompeii during the oldest phase, with particular attention directed to the Samnitic period; the outlining of a precise strategy of intervention for the restoration and preservation of the House of Obellio Firmo; the re-opening of the building to sightseeing tours and its restitution to public use.

Recently, the team of researchers who collaborate with the journal ‘Groma’ was involved in two major archaeological projects relating to abandoned Roman towns in the Adriatic area: Burnum (Šibenik, Croatia) and Suasa (Ancona, Italy). The Burnum Project is primarily a remote sensing research project that aims at promoting the archaeological heritage of the site. The main results have already been presented during the first edition of the Workshop (2011). The Roman town of Suasa is located in the middle valley of the Cesano River, in the northern Marche region. The Department of Archaeology of Bologna University has spent over twenty years conducting archaeological excavations and multidisciplinary studies in the site. The present paper focuses on the new season of research, which involves new tools and methods for the analysis and documentation of the site and its territory. In particular, in recent years there has been an increased use of remote sensing techniques and the systematic management of the new data excavations through an innovative webGIS system. The integration of historical and modern aerial photographs, finalized aerial photogrammetry, new aerial and geophysical survey, made it possible to identify several buildings in the urban area and to locate the most important elements of the ancient topography in the suburban area. The large amount of archaeological data acquired from the excavations and from remote sensing techniques was managed by webGIS technology, which made it possible to conduct different levels of analysis.