The potential of integrated GPR survey and aerial photographic analysis of historic urban areas: A case study and digital reconstruction of a Late Roman villa in Durrës (Albania) (original) (raw)
Related papers
2013
Paper focused on the first results of a joint geo-archaeological research project of urban archeology in the ancient Roman city of Dürres. Starting from the reading of the historical evidence and interpretation of archival records (i.e. aerial photos related to the twenties, thirties and forties years of last century, before the urban transformations between the two World Wars and later, and satellite images of the sixties and recent years) the research proposes to develop targeted investigations with the integrated use of Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) method and image processing techniques of contemporary photographs in order to locate a late Roman villa. All the information provided by aerial and GPR analysis as well as literature references constituted the basis for attempting a virtual reconstruction of the lost Roman's villa in order to give the visual idea of how it probably was. Accordingly to London and Seville Charter principles, different levels of reliability in data interpretation have been identified and characterized aiming at making transparent the methodological choices and the accuracy of reconstruction undertaken.
With the dual purpose of extending knowledge about the archaeological site of San Rossore and of assisting archaeologists in the recovery process of the ships, geophysical surveys integrated with remote sensing analyses were performed. The surveys were conducted at selected locations, placed on the plan of excavation (approximately 5 m above the ancient surface) and near the archaeological excavation area. Passive (Self Potentials) and active (Induced Polarization) electrical methods were used. The choice of geophysical methods was due to the peculiarity of the geological characteristics of the site. In fact, the sediments embodying the archaeological remains are mainly silts and silty sands, which are moderately conductive. Furthermore, a shallow groundwater hosted in the alluvial deposits (at approximately 2 m below the surface plane) is present in the site.
Within the framework of this multidisciplinary project several scientific disciplines, either or not traditionally linked to archaeology, collaborate to reconstruct the development of the site in relation to its natural environment. Apart from a.o. archaeozoology, palynology and geomorphology also archaeoseismology, geochemistry, two-dimensional resistivity imaging for structural geology and high resolution remote sensing complement the multi-method archaeogeophysical prospection, as applied to the town and its hinterland. For the site, where the project's archaeological field work initially mainly focused on the excavation of the town centre, a new integrated research approach was initiated in 1998 to reconstruct the spatial and chronological development of the wider urban area of the town, as part of a PhD by F. Martens. A series of test soundings was excavated throughout the urban area, whereas simultaneously a programme of intensive archaeological survey was carried out between 1999 and 2005, comprising of the systematic collection of all archaeological surface evidence as well as the systematic recording of surface architecture. Important progress was made in the urban research, when from 2002 onwards also geophysical survey was applied at Sagalassos, which was carried out by a team supervised by B. Mušič. The combination of the archaeological research results with the evidence from the geophysical survey and the high resolution remote sensing and geomorphological analyses (V. de Laet), show that an integrated approach combining different research techniques and fields of expertise can lead to a better understanding of ancient urban landscapes and it illustrates how the results of various spatial analyses can be complementary contributions to the reconstruction of past cultural landscape.
Ground-penetrating radar survey at Falerii Novi: a new approach to the study of Roman cities
Antiquity
Our understanding of Roman urbanism relies on evidence from a few extensively investigated sites, such as Pompeii and Ostia, which are unrepresentative of the full variety of Roman towns. This article presents the results of the first high-resolution GPR survey of a complete Roman town-Falerii Novi, in Lazio, Italy. The authors review the methods deployed and provide an overview of the results, including discussion of a case-study area within the town. They demonstrate how this type of survey has the potential to revolutionise archaeological studies of urban sites, while also challenging current methods of analysing and publishing large-scale GPR datasets.
In Umbria, the transformation from Roman pagan building to church seems to be frequent during the beginning of the Middle Age thanks to Longobards and Byzantines. The rural church of San Lorenzo in Nifili (close to Montecastrilli-TR) is a very good example of this. The aim of this work is to understand the evolution of the ancient landscape around this church, from Roman to modern period, using data coming from both the subsurface and the space, using the GPR (Ground Penetrating Radar) method and the satellite imageries, respectively. Particular data processing to define the evolution of this ancient landscape in southern Umbria is described in this paper. The results not only represent an effective and non-destructive methodology for discovering, recovering and understanding archaeological data, but also give the possibility to obtain archaeological potential values of different areas in order to better plan future researches in this area.
Questa innovativa serie monografica nasce dalla volontà di promuovere sul territorio siciliano nuovi studi e ricerche che, superando la frammentazione che spesso ha contraddistinto lo spirito della ricerca archeologica in Sicilia, guidino verso un approccio globale e multidisciplinare al fenomeno storico ed archeologico di età classica e post-classica. Essa riflette anche il recente revival che sul tema del documento, del paesaggio e della cultura materiale si è avviato in questi ultimi anni. L'aggettivo "post-classico" non è inteso esclusivamente nel suo significato storiografico restrittivo ma serve, invece, per creare una congiunzione tra culture recenti spesso immeritatamente trascurate. L'obiettivo è chiaro: dar vita ad una piattaforma operativa che possa vedere finalmente dialogare, con un linguaggio comune improntato su metodologie di approccio nuove e stimolanti, specialisti di discipline diverse il cui contributo, specie in ricerche di ampio respiro come queste qui presentate, è sicuramente innegabile. L'elemento aggregante è quello delle metodologie di approccio all'argomento in virtù delle quali oggi si può cercare di analizzare e studiare uno specifico tema da angolazioni e punti di vista differenti, da competenze professionali diverse all'interno di un ampio contenitore cronologico che sia in grado di far valutare un territorio o un manufatto non nella specificità di uno o due secoli solamente ma, al contrario, all'interno di una sequenza cronologica di sei, sette o più secoli, l'unica in grado di far emergere dati coerenti con lo sviluppo storico complessivo cui i medesimi dati appartengono. Daniele Malfitana -Giuseppe CaCCiaGuerra arCheoloGia ClassiCa in siCilia e nel Mediterraneo didattiCa e riCerCa nell'esperienza Mista Cnr e università Il contributo delle giovani generazioni. Un triennio di ricerche e di tesi universitarie con la collaborazione di annarita di Mauro e Maria luisa sCrofani Catania 2014 © Tutti i diritti riservati. è vietata la riproduzione di testi ed illustrazioni senza il permesso scritto dell'Editore, dei Curatori, del Responsabile scientifico dei progetti e degli Autori. Ricerche di archeologia classica e post-classica, vol. II arCheoloGia ClassiCa in siCilia e nel Mediterraneo. didattiCa e riCerCa nell'esperienza Mista Cnr e università. Il contributo delle giovani generazioni. Un triennio di ricerche e di tesi universitarie 446 pp., ill. 17 x 24 cm. ISBN(13): 978-88-89375-12-9 I. Malfitana, Daniele <1967> II. Cacciaguerra, Giuseppe <1977> Progettazione grafica ed impaginazione: Maria Luisa Scrofani Coordinamento grafico e rielaborazione immagini dei contributi: INDICE Introduzione daniele Malfitana, Archeologia classica oggi: il "modello catanese" nell'interazione CNR e Università. Opportunità di crescita ed innovazione per le giovani generazioni daniele Malfitana, Giuseppe CaCCiaGuerra, Il quadro delle ricerche e delle attività in laboratorio e sul campo. Strategie per la crescita delle nuove generazioni