Articles by Subject

The site of Norba is located in the Latium Region, about 90 km S of Rome, Italy. The city is one of the best example of urban town planning, with a regular layout dating back to antiquity. Over the years, many studies and archaeological excavations have brought to light important remains of several buildings, which are still very well preserved. To enhance the knowledge of the unexcavated portions of the archaeological site and to locate the position of the unknown and hypothesized buried structures, extensive geophysical surveys employing the Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and Gradiometric methods were planned and conducted between 2017 and 2018. For the measurements, a GPR system SIR3000 (GSSI), equipped with a 400 MHz bistatic antenna with constant offset, was used to survey 27 different sectors close to few excavated areas. Taking into account the environmental conditions of the site and the nature of the buried structures, some areas were surveyed with a spacing interval between parallel profiles of 0.25 m while other areas were investigated with a spatial interval between closed parallel profiles of 0.50 m. Furthermore, fluxgate differential magnetic (Gradiometric) surveys were carried out using the geoscan FM256 in two areas, overlapping the GPR areas. In order to have a better understanding of the subsurface, methods of qualitative and quantitative integration of the results have been employed: maps overlays and RGB color composites (graphical integration), binary data analysis and cluster analysis (discrete data integration), and data sum, data product and principal component analysis (continuous data integration). The results obtained from the geophysical surveys were interpreted together with the archaeologists to define the meaning of the structures identified and to enhance the knowledge of the ancient town’s layout and mapping.

The town of Catania, located in the southern part of the Sicily region, Italy, holds the remains of an ancient settlement in the city centre. One of the most important buildings is the Cathedral and the buried Achillean Baths. The Cathedral was repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt after the earthquakes and volcanic eruptions that occurred over time. The first building dates back to the period 1078-1093 and was built on the ruins of the Roman Achillean Baths, on the initiative of Count Roger, acquiring all the characteristics of an equipped (i.e. fortified) ecclesia. Already in 1169, a catastrophic earthquake demolished it almost completely, leaving intact only the apse. In 1194 a fire created considerable damage and finally in 1693 the earthquake that hit the Val di Noto destroyed it almost completely. The area around the Cathedral is today highly urbanized, but it was the locus of social and political life over the centuries for people of different cultures who have inhabited the area since the 8th century BC. Therefore, this area contains stratigraphically complex layers of buildings and other remains, which can help understand the use of this area of the town over many centuries. A ground-penetrating radar and electrical resistivity tomography surveys were performed inside and outside the Cathedral of Catania. Data were visualized in three-dimensions using a standard amplitude slice technique as well as the construction of isosurface images of amplitudes. These images reveal the position of architectural features whose shape, size and burial depth suggest they are Roman and earlier in age. The features mapped overlap the development of the Achillean Baths and the presence of some tombs and unknown rooms.

Since 2016, an extensive survey has been conducted at the archaeological site of Doclea in the areas between the forum, the basilica, the Capitolium, the thermae and the walls of the city, as well as around the eastern medieval churches, and in the S part of the temple of Dea Roma and of the private house. GPR results have produced a detailed and extensive plan of hidden structures (walls, roads, ditches and gullies) inside the walls of the city. The knowledge of these features is of great worth in promoting archaeological excavations and projects of valorisation for the site.

Pontecagnano is a large Etruscan-Samnite settlement located 8 km SE of Salerno, at the northern edge of the Sele plain. The well-investigated necropolis provided data that made it possible to analyse the structure of the ancient community and reconstruct its long-term development. Over the last few years, after archaeological investigations carried out during roadwork to widen the Salerno-Reggio Calabria highway, a more systematic study of the site was begun. The analysis of archaeological data was combined with environmental and landscape studies, shedding light on the reasons behind the spatial organisation of the settlement, which was influenced by natural or man-made landscape elements such as streams, non-uniform dislocation of geological formations, terraces, roads, canals, etc. The aim of this paper is to illustrate the methods and instruments we used to develop a system that can dynamically combine archaeological and geomorphological data. The paper focuses particularly on the reconstruction of paleo-topographical areas of the ancient settlement. Our investigation outlined the physical and environmental limits within which the old town developed, especially as regards the archaic and classical period. Part of the work was devoted to reconstructing in detail the connections between the modern and the ancient landscape, not only by reading and interpreting the aerial photographs from 1945 to the present-day, but also by analyzing the evidence from the excavations. This approach allowed us to draw up a detailed geomorphologic map of the area of the ancient settlement - part of the GIS platform - and develop a three-dimensional model of the ground (DEM).

The paper presents and discusses results from the integration of various methods of geophysical prospection on the plateau between the Via Appia and the Via Ardeatina on the ancient suburb of Rome. The use of large-scale magnetometry, georadar and electromagnetic survey in an area of particularly dense archaeological remains is a highly effective methodology for revealing important information on previously unknown archaeological features. Of particular interest in this case is the comparison between geophysical data and the results of previous excavations, and newly-targeted test investigations that suggest the survival of the documented but previously undiscovered basilica of Pope Damasus as well as unknown catacomb tunnels at San Callisto and elsewhere on the plateau.

A procedure was developed to reconstruct the sedimentary units and to establish the position of the archaeological features and was then implemented via a database coupled with a GIS. This reconstruction requires the increase of measurements taken on the ground in a homogeneous way. It is then used to supply a 3D visualization of the sedimentary units in the relationships of archaeological operation (excavation or trial trenches), even for spot observations. This tool, which is still in an experimental phase, could be extended and validated by geomorphologists to constitute a data bank which would be useful both for the archaeologist and for the geologist.

The geo-archaeological approach to the formation of urban strata has to deal with a high density and diversity of processes and deposits. The recording system used is generally very specific: pedologic registering forms, 3D geo-localization, etc. The records are difficult to quantify and to integrate into more common stratigraphic systems. Sometimes they are even considered useless or hardly understandable. The case study described here deals with micromorphological, stratigraphical and 3D organization of dark earth layers from French preventive excavations. It combines the use of a laser tachaeometer, a petrographic microscope, a spreadsheet and a GIS. The observations are analyzed by statistical and spatial methods. The results and the major difficulties are explained here. The system is focused only on a few elements that seem to be essential, because they help to read, register, analyze, interpret and communicate data.

During the years 2006-2007, three teams of scientists (archaeologists with geophysicists) detected the archaeological surface of the Late Antique villa at Aiano-Torraccia di Chiusi (Siena, Tuscany) using GPR (Ground Penetrating Radar), Resistivity and Magnetometry. Their aim was to identify archaeological remains and consequently spend less time and money on digging. At the conclusion of the fieldwork and data treatment, they used a CAD program to overlap geophysical and archaeological layers and check geophysical results on archaeological remains. Despite surveys in many other archaeological sites, they obtained few results: surveys located anomalies in less than 1/4 of the archaeological remains excavated in 2008 and 2009. In this paper the authors attempt to analyze (and try to find better solutions for the future) errors in the geophysical surveys caused by incorrect calibration of the database, low accuracy of grid intersections and excessively long grid lines, in relationship to site conditions and the kinds of archaeological remains. These technical problems in fact certainly create a less than optimal operational synergy between archaeologists and geologists during the post-processing of the data: an analysis of these problems may help to improve future projects of this type.

The project for the urban redevelopment of Paolo Orsi Square (ex slaughterhouse) in Rosarno (Reggio Calabria, Italy) represented an important opportunity to investigate the archaeological area and experiment new technologies in a very important sacred area of the ancient polis of Medma. The Greek colony is located under modern Rosarno and in particular, in the eastern part, under Paolo Orsi Square, there was a sacred area. An OhmMapper (Geometrics-US) archaeological resistivity survey was carried out in the area occupied by the ex-municipal slaughterhouse, where a small part of the structures of a sanctuary (6th-2nd cent. B.C.) was brought to light. Data acquired through the resistivity survey were used to create 2D and 3D models of the subsurface; in these models it is possible to identify with a good level of precision the geometry and depth of archaeological features. These results helped us to reconstruct the direction of the walls and the location of the main structures related to the sanctuary, without invasive procedures. Thanks to the results of the geophysical survey, some areas of considerable archaeological potential were preserved during the project of urban redevelopment, conducted thanks to POR (Programmi Operativi Regionali) funds.

The use and diffusion of Geodatabases for land use analysis in archaeological investiga¬tion cannot neglect innovative educational programmes. Furthermore, the principal problem of the use of Geodatabases is the cost of Geospatial analysis. In order to solve this problem, research provides methodologies for the elaboration of 2D and 3D thematic cartography and listing technologies using open source Geospatial analysis. As part of Project MONITOR (www.monitorproject.com/) of the Galileo Joint, the Innovative Educational and Research Programmes may involve experiments on GNSS real time positioning and innovative telecommunication applications by using various kind of almost wearable or PDA, TV - PCs and Smartphones as well GPS/PL/INS technologies. The Educational Programmes are structured in different phases: the analysis of the GIS project, the territorial sources and the case-study with the support of the ESA’s global land cover map (www.esa.int) and thermographic imaging (www.fIirthermography.com/). The data sources, challenges and possible improvements in the GIS project can serve not only as guidelines for future GIS research for environmental conservation and management plans for UNESCO Sites, but also point to rewarding research avenues for visualization of land vulnerability with the support of different technologies (Remote Sensing, Laser Scanning, Virtual Reference Stations, etc.).

The paper describes the findings of a geo-electric study conducted at the archaeological site of Torraccia di Chiusi (Siena Province) with the use of soil resistivity modelling. In collaboration with the Département d’Archéologie et Histoire de l’Art (Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium) and the Centro di GeoTecnologie (Università degli Studi di Siena), a new, non-invasive instrument, named the OhmMapper, was used for the first time in an archaeological context to provide geophysical sections of the terrain. The aim of the study was to evaluate the nature and distribution of the buried anthropogenic structures and to properly locate them on the map without the necessity of excavating. The site, located in the valley of the Foci river, has been described as a long lasting settlement (III to VII centuries AD, although ceramics dating to the II century BC have been uncovered). The OhmMapper is a capacitively coupled resistivity meter that measures the electrical properties of rocks and soil without ground stakes used in traditional resistivity surveys. A simple coaxial-cable array with transmitter and receiver sections is pulled along the ground either by a single person or attached to an all-terrain vehicle. The dipole-dipole configuration enables the instrument to immediately pick up the horizontal variations in resistivity, thereby enabling the user to identify structures such as walls or cavities. With the OhmMapper, nine sections were made around the perimeter of the area already excavated to collect data on the presence, depth, and dimensions of anthropogenic structures. The results from the sections were refined and placed on a map using an ArcGIS platform. The interpretation of the nine sections resulted in a new hypothesis on the buried anthropogenic structures and a new model of the natural landscape that existed at the site prior to its construction.

The article presents activities and specific technologies connected to a multidisciplinary project, developed within the 'Caere Project' (http://www.progettocaere.rm.cnr.it) and conducted by researchers of the CNR-ITABC and the University of Molise. The goal of the research is to contribute to the archaeological documentation of the Etruscan town of Cerveteri (Rome-Italy), employing a vast array of technologies for the 3D reconstruction of the landscape. The research is also aimed at integrating instruments for topographic relief and innovative methodologies of surveying (DGPS, total stations, 3D laser scanning), to collect geometrical and morphological data at territorial and site scale. A geophysical survey in the Vigna Parrocchiale area, located in the centre of the urban plateau, was carried out using geoelectric methods of investigation to enable archaeologists to detect subsurface structures. The results obtained and illustrated in this paper will be validated by the reopening in the near future of the excavations by CNR-ISCIMA.

Since its establishment in 1987, the Cecina Valley Survey Project, directed by Nicola Terrenato of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has undertaken the systematic investigation of the landscape surrounding the Etruscan, and then later Roman, city of Volaterrae in Northern Etruria, modern Tuscany. Whilst the main aim of the study is to investigate the distributions of settlements in the valley between 600 BC and AD 600, the survey has recorded the presence of artefacts of all periods. Together with a diverse approach to geophysical survey, the project has generated a wealth of data that has been documented within a spatial database, thus permitting interpretation to include both remotely sensed data and field surface collection. Through the powerful application of this GIS technology combined with a detailed site documentation, a useful methodology was developed that could be reapplied in the field. The combination of field walking and a multiple site approach to geophysical survey, enhanced by the application of mobile computing technology, allowed an immediate initial interpretation of the site to be made. This approach to field survey, combining the techniques of GIS, geophysics and traditional field walking, allowed a rapid detailed appraisal of the site, particularly through a target specific form of remote sensing. Presented here are some results from two seasons of geophysical surveying of rural settlements in the Cecina Valley and a discussion of the development of this integrated field survey approach. Appraisal is also made of the most suitable geophysical methods to be applied to individuate Hellenistic and early Roman rural settlements and the different forms of computer filter analysis that can be applied to extract clearer results.

The results of several sea- and ice-cores and pollen sequences of peat bogs, for the last 40,000 years, permits today to give evidence of palaeoclimatic oscillations of this period. A method of palaeoenvironment reconstitution, based on transfert functions computation, issued from pollen diagrams, is proposed. The method is building a palaeotemperature curve and a palaeohumidity curve, allowing to separate and correlate the two climatic components. A complete example of the method is developed with the data of the peat bog of Tenaghi-Philippon (Macedonia, Greece). All the analysed sequences (Tenaghi-Philippon, la Grande Pile, Banyoles, etc.), compared to sea-cores (KET 8004) and ice-cores (GRIPSummit, Greenland) confirm the evidence of mild and humid oscillations, and cold and humid oscillations, in a three parts structured sequence: the interpleniglacial (up to 28,000 BP), the late pleniglacial (between 28,000 BP and 13,500 BP), and the tardiglacial (between 13,500 BP and 10,000 BP). A numbering system, avoiding usage of ancient interstadials still to valid in their eponym sites, is proposed.

The main target of the Sistan Project is the reconstruction of the prehistoric archaeological landscape, beginning from multispectral satellite data. In order to draw a new map (historical, cartographic and geological) of Southern Sistan, a TM image of Landsat 5 satellite was used, with a resolution of 28.5 mt per pixel, including 7 spectral bands. By comparing geological features with the position of archaeological sites in the prehistoric age, and processing this digital data, new information have been obtained and hypothesis proposed for the ancient population of the region. In particular, DTM (Digital Terrain Model) reconstruction, multispectral classification (raster data) and vector integration of data (archaeological sites, terraces, geomorphological features, contour levels), have allowed us to visualise a complex and dynamic model in 3 dimensions. For this aim virtual reality techniques (not immersive) have been used: on a workstation, the user can explore in 3D the landscape model in an interactive way, navigating through the digital data and choosing different perspectives and points of view. Moreover, it was also possible to process at the same time multidimensional information, such as the altimetrical model, unsupervised classification, natural spectral color, different spectral bands, vector data and so on.

Geophysical techniques applied to archaeological exploration involve specific problems of data interpretation, due to the spatial characteristics that they possess and to the particularities of material remains in archaeological sites. This work shows an application of statistical spatial analysis to the study of data in 2D coordinates together with the value of a variable z, that quantifies a spatial soil characteristic (in the magnetometric survey these values correspond to the magnetic intensity or gradient values). The analysis includes exploratory statistical non-spatial methods and other methods extracted from the statistical spatial analysis, and performs thematic maps by means of a new algorithm that finds the greater contrasts in the z values. This methodology and the algorithm have been applied to the microspatial study of magnetometric data in a Roman settlement in Las Gabias (Granada, Spain) and verified with the excavation carried out on this site.

Analysis of site formation processes is a field of research which can be enhanced by means of computer applications. In this paper, the authors suggest the use of image analysis applied to the study of soil micromorphology and to archaeological deposits, aimed at the qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the soil components. The presence of specific devices and software allow these problems to be faced in a quick and user-friendly way, thanks to the Windows interface. The case study looks at the Uan Afuda cave in the Tadrart Acacus (Libyan Sahara), and the sediments related to the Mesolithic occupation (8900-8000 BP), which is characterised by vegetable accumulations alternating to ashes layers. The application let us weigh the specific components of the layers, from both a microscopic (soil thin sections) and macroscopic (excavated stratigraphic section) level. Consistence of results opens up new perspectives of analysis for the comprehension of the formation processes in arid environments and for the cultural problems linked to them.

The data from an anthracological study of vegetal carbon from six archaeological sites in the Guadix-Bàza district (Betic province, Guadiciano-Bastetano), dating from 2500 to 1400 BC, have been submitted to Correspondence Analyses in order to define relationships between taxa, to associate taxa with the sites, and to identify patterns of species appearance. The vegetation identified by anthraco-analysis for the Copper Age is the kermesoak grove (Quercus coccifera association), probably includable in the present-day Rhamno lycioidis-Quercetum cocciferae association, with Aleppo-pine groves (Pinus halepensis community) occupying the most marginal zones. This pine grove gradually replaced the oak grove during the Bronze Age, for a variety of causes, principally anthropic, such as the cultivation of new lands, farming and the cutting of trees. Human knowledge of plants is reflected in the uses of certain species for specific functions: construction materials for huts, firewood for the hearth and for metal working, and raw materials for making utensils. The use of materials depended on species availability and the socio-economic organization of the human communities inhabiting the southeastern Iberian Peninsula during the Copper and Bronze Ages.

The Geohm System belongs to the geo-electrical family of prospecting devices, and is a system for substratum exploration by electrically scanning along lines of preplanted sensors. The system generates a horizontal section of the values of resistivity in archaeological sites. The Geohm is an uncomplicated system comprising of a portable computer, an analogical-digital conversion device, a multi relay switcher (software controlled), a solid state current converter (also software controlled), and a lot of moving sensors inserted in the ground. The measured groups of returned signals are processed by complex algorithms before the data is validated: this technique makes it possible to obtain more reliable measurements and allows the user to reprogram the device. The speed of the system allows the user to survey a large area using several electrical devices.

S. Rosa terramara, which measures 7 hectares, is a Middle and Recent Bronze age site, excavated since 1984. Cooperation between archaeologists and geologists has made it possible to experiment with the comparative analysis of computer image processing of the aerial photos, integrated with the detailed study of a DTM (Digital Terrain Model), in particular in relation to the geopedological and geoarchaeological interpretation of the site. The integration of two kinds of data, aerial photographs and a DTM, has been complemented by the texture mapping of the aerial photo overlaid on the corresponding 3D model. Significant ranges in the pixel distribution in the digital aerial image identified four main areas; any area presents particular digital features. For example, the digital features of the small village are very different from the characteristics of the large and more recent village. The digital classification of these areas identified the following: area 1, alluvial sediment (posthumous) which hides part of the earthwork; area 2, the nucleus of the small village; area 3, the diking of the big village; area 4, a Roman villa (another posthumous event). The final interpretation, after processing, distinctly shows the formation of natural (vertisoils) and artificial deposits (earthworks). In particular in the north-western area of the aerial photograph the interruption of the diking means that in that point the structures are buried because of a flood. Moreover, it results that the two villages are separated by a large ditch. On the basis of these results it has been possible to reconstruct the evolution of the site and of the environment in different periods: 1) the site before the Bronze age; 2) the terramara in the Middle Bronze age; 3) the terramara in the Recent Bronze age; 4) the site in Roman age; 5) the site in Medieval age. The computer processing, integrated with the aerial photo-interpretation, shows an important series of data not obtainable through traditional techniques. The construction of the DTM, the texture mapping and the digital image processing have clearly enhanced the shape of the structures of the terramara as well as the stratigraphical excavations. This also resolves the problems which emerged in the aerial photo interpretation. In particular, the interruption of the earthwork of the big village in the northern area seems connected with the burial of part of the anthropic structures, after the abandonment of the terramara. In conclusion, the computer image processing, together with the DTM and the texture mapping of the site, is an exportable tool, useful for an evaluation of the state of preservation of the Bronze age deposits in the Po valley. These results were obtained without excavation, using only simple stratigraphical surveys on the ground.