Vincenzo Sapia - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Vincenzo Sapia

Archaeological …, Jan 1, 2011

The island of Mozia represents a unique location for geophysical investigations applied to archae... more The island of Mozia represents a unique location for geophysical investigations applied to archaeological research. The presence of exposed structures and ongoing studies, run by the University 'La Sapienza' of Rome, allows a direct comparison of geophysical exploration data with the excavations results, giving an immediate control on the accuracy and robustness of the geophysical survey conducted. Four areas around the Kothon, a Phoenician artificial basin, have been investigated by means of magnetic methods; the purpose was to trace a semi-circular wall surrounding the structure of the basin. The geophysical results confirmed the presence of the wall, as postulated by the archaeological study, and indicated magnetic anomalies associated with previously unknown structures. Subsequent archaeological excavation confirmed these latter data. The magnetic signature of the topsoils and remains characterizing the area surveyed,was undoubtedly weak, even though the resulting anomalies maps were adequately clear and allowed the characterization of the archaeological structures in the area. Field and laboratory magnetic susceptibility measurements allowed better understanding of the data. The study confirmed that geomagnetic investigations can be used in weakly magnetic susceptibility environments, as in Mozia, and are productive if conducted in accordance with an archaeological agenda.

The Vulci archeological site was object of interest by the Soprintendenza ai beni culturali dell'... more The Vulci archeological site was object of interest by the Soprintendenza ai beni culturali dell'Etruria meridionale (Italian government department responsible for southern Etruria's cultural heritage) since the beginning of the 20 th century. In 2001, the Ministero dei Beni Culturali (Italian ministry of cultural heritage) along with the local authorities, opened a natural-archeological park. In this area, it lies most of the ancient Etruscan city of Velch (today known by its Latin name, Vulci) including the Osteria Necropolis that is the object of this study. Recently, new archaeological excavations were made and the local authorities needed major geological information about the volcanic lithotypes where the Etruscans used to build their necropolis. The aim of this study is to define the geological and geophysical characteristics of the rock lithotypes present in the Vulci park. For this purpose, a geological map of the area (1:10000) has been realized. Moreover, two different geophysical methods were applied: measurements of magnetic susceptibility and electrical resistivity tomography. Magnetic susceptibility analyses clearly identify magnetic contrasts between different lithotypes; the characteristics of the pyroclastic flow that originated the Sorano unit 2 and its vertical facies variations are well recorded by this parameter that along with lithostratigraphic observations provides information about the depositional conditions. Two electrical resistivity tomographies were performed, which show the Sorano unit 2 thickness to be of c. 7 m with resistivity values ranging from 200 to 400 Ω·m. This kind of multidisciplinary approach resulted to be suitable to study this type of archaeological sites, revealing that areas characterized by a relevant thickness and wide areal extension of volcanic lithotypes can be a potential site where Etruscans might have excavated their necropolis.

Large geophysical datasets are produced routinely during airborne surveys. The Spatially Constrai... more Large geophysical datasets are produced routinely during airborne surveys. The Spatially Constrained Inversion (SCI) is capable of inverting these datasets in an efficient and effective way by using a 1D forward modeling and, at the same time, enforcing smoothness constraints between the model parameters. The smoothness constraints act both vertically within each 1D model discretizing the investigated volume and laterally between the adjacent soundings. Even if the traditional, smooth SCI has been proven to be very successful in reconstructing complex structures, sometimes it generates results where the formation boundaries are blurred and poorly match the real, abrupt changes in the underlying geology. Recently, to overcome this problem, the original (smooth) SCI algorithm has been extended to include sharp boundary reconstruction capabilities based on the Minimum Support regularization. By means of minimization of the volume where, the spatial model variation is non-vanishing (i.e., the support of the variation), sharp-SCI promotes the reconstruction of blocky solutions. In this paper, we apply the novel sharp-SCI method to different types of airborne electromagnetic datasets and, by comparing the models against other geophysical and geological evidences, demonstrate the improved capabilities of in reconstructing sharp features.

The archaeological site of Mozia, a small island in front of the western coast of Sicily (Italy),... more The archaeological site of Mozia, a small island in front of the western coast of Sicily (Italy), is one of the most important Phoenician-Punic settlements in the Mediterranean; it preserves important vestiges and remains, located in an uncontaminated site, inhabited and car-free. The remains are still partially hidden under vegetation and vineyards. A combined survey including magnetic, active electromagnetic and ground-penetrating radar was applied on a vast area in the north-western part of the island. The integration of different datasets of non invasive geophysical methods discloses a complex system of underground structures whose layout is related to walls and roads, residential units, and paved inner courts. Wavelet analysis, applied to the active electromagnetic survey, aided to improve the visibility of the resulting archaeological features. The data provided further evidences for a dense, still hidden, urbanization of the island at the time of the Phoenician-Punic occupation (8th-7th century BC to 397 BC).

Archaeological …, Jan 1, 2011

The island of Mozia represents a unique location for geophysical investigations applied to archae... more The island of Mozia represents a unique location for geophysical investigations applied to archaeological research. The presence of exposed structures and ongoing studies, run by the University 'La Sapienza' of Rome, allows a direct comparison of geophysical exploration data with the excavations results, giving an immediate control on the accuracy and robustness of the geophysical survey conducted. Four areas around the Kothon, a Phoenician artificial basin, have been investigated by means of magnetic methods; the purpose was to trace a semi-circular wall surrounding the structure of the basin. The geophysical results confirmed the presence of the wall, as postulated by the archaeological study, and indicated magnetic anomalies associated with previously unknown structures. Subsequent archaeological excavation confirmed these latter data. The magnetic signature of the topsoils and remains characterizing the area surveyed,was undoubtedly weak, even though the resulting anomalies maps were adequately clear and allowed the characterization of the archaeological structures in the area. Field and laboratory magnetic susceptibility measurements allowed better understanding of the data. The study confirmed that geomagnetic investigations can be used in weakly magnetic susceptibility environments, as in Mozia, and are productive if conducted in accordance with an archaeological agenda.

The Vulci archeological site was object of interest by the Soprintendenza ai beni culturali dell'... more The Vulci archeological site was object of interest by the Soprintendenza ai beni culturali dell'Etruria meridionale (Italian government department responsible for southern Etruria's cultural heritage) since the beginning of the 20 th century. In 2001, the Ministero dei Beni Culturali (Italian ministry of cultural heritage) along with the local authorities, opened a natural-archeological park. In this area, it lies most of the ancient Etruscan city of Velch (today known by its Latin name, Vulci) including the Osteria Necropolis that is the object of this study. Recently, new archaeological excavations were made and the local authorities needed major geological information about the volcanic lithotypes where the Etruscans used to build their necropolis. The aim of this study is to define the geological and geophysical characteristics of the rock lithotypes present in the Vulci park. For this purpose, a geological map of the area (1:10000) has been realized. Moreover, two different geophysical methods were applied: measurements of magnetic susceptibility and electrical resistivity tomography. Magnetic susceptibility analyses clearly identify magnetic contrasts between different lithotypes; the characteristics of the pyroclastic flow that originated the Sorano unit 2 and its vertical facies variations are well recorded by this parameter that along with lithostratigraphic observations provides information about the depositional conditions. Two electrical resistivity tomographies were performed, which show the Sorano unit 2 thickness to be of c. 7 m with resistivity values ranging from 200 to 400 Ω·m. This kind of multidisciplinary approach resulted to be suitable to study this type of archaeological sites, revealing that areas characterized by a relevant thickness and wide areal extension of volcanic lithotypes can be a potential site where Etruscans might have excavated their necropolis.

Large geophysical datasets are produced routinely during airborne surveys. The Spatially Constrai... more Large geophysical datasets are produced routinely during airborne surveys. The Spatially Constrained Inversion (SCI) is capable of inverting these datasets in an efficient and effective way by using a 1D forward modeling and, at the same time, enforcing smoothness constraints between the model parameters. The smoothness constraints act both vertically within each 1D model discretizing the investigated volume and laterally between the adjacent soundings. Even if the traditional, smooth SCI has been proven to be very successful in reconstructing complex structures, sometimes it generates results where the formation boundaries are blurred and poorly match the real, abrupt changes in the underlying geology. Recently, to overcome this problem, the original (smooth) SCI algorithm has been extended to include sharp boundary reconstruction capabilities based on the Minimum Support regularization. By means of minimization of the volume where, the spatial model variation is non-vanishing (i.e., the support of the variation), sharp-SCI promotes the reconstruction of blocky solutions. In this paper, we apply the novel sharp-SCI method to different types of airborne electromagnetic datasets and, by comparing the models against other geophysical and geological evidences, demonstrate the improved capabilities of in reconstructing sharp features.

The archaeological site of Mozia, a small island in front of the western coast of Sicily (Italy),... more The archaeological site of Mozia, a small island in front of the western coast of Sicily (Italy), is one of the most important Phoenician-Punic settlements in the Mediterranean; it preserves important vestiges and remains, located in an uncontaminated site, inhabited and car-free. The remains are still partially hidden under vegetation and vineyards. A combined survey including magnetic, active electromagnetic and ground-penetrating radar was applied on a vast area in the north-western part of the island. The integration of different datasets of non invasive geophysical methods discloses a complex system of underground structures whose layout is related to walls and roads, residential units, and paved inner courts. Wavelet analysis, applied to the active electromagnetic survey, aided to improve the visibility of the resulting archaeological features. The data provided further evidences for a dense, still hidden, urbanization of the island at the time of the Phoenician-Punic occupation (8th-7th century BC to 397 BC).