In this article, we present the results of a pilot study that adopts an interdisciplinary off‐site approach combining detailed surface survey, remote sensing analyses, geophysical prospections, geoarchaeological investigations and palaeoenvironmental analyses to investigate long‐term human‐environment interactions in the Pontine plain (Lazio, Central Italy). Focusing on a small study area just north of the ancient Roman way station of Ad Medias, in the middle of this former wetland, the developed integrated approach turned out to be very much successful, providing additional information on (a) the interpretation of the surface record in light of landscape and environmental dynamics, (b) the exposure of “hidden landscapes” that date from before the Roman phase of exploitation that is well‐attested in the surface archaeological record, and (c) the texture of this Roman landscape, allowing for a more accurate interpretation of both mapped surface materials and the wider context in which these surface sites were set.

The southern Harz Mountains are located on the northern periphery of the Latène culture, which was organized around central sites. Here, towards the end of the second century BC, settlements of the Przeworsk culture appear that provide evidence of a process of migration into a limited 'cultural island'. In this archaeological context we have used large-scale magnetic mapping and electrical resistivity tomography to determine localities where subsequently archaeological excavations were carried out. Magnetic prospecting has been performed with a multisensor gradiometer array mounted on a cart. Using a newly developed multichannel data logger LEA-D2 supporting a GPS unit for accurate real-time positioning, high-resolution measurements with a rate of more than 1 ha h −1 became possible. Electrical resistivity tomography has been carried out over selected sites to gain additional information on the subsurface from a different perspective.

At the hillfort Lossow, integrated geophysical surveys were applied as part of an interdisciplinary research project. The importance of the prehistoric and Slavic site rests on various shafts within the hillfort, which are dated to the Early Iron Age and contain findings of offering processes associated with cult practices. At present more than 60 shafts with a depth of 5 to 7.5 m are known from test trenches and excavations inside the hillfort. In the settlement in front of the hillfort, large-scale magnetic gradiometer surveys and electrical resistivity mapping were applied to detect new archaeological features, verified by field surveys and targeted excavation. Inside the hillfort, a combination of magnetic gradiometer surveys, electrical resistivity imaging, ground-penetrating radar, and pulse-induction metal detection were used to reveal the complexity of structures like archaeological pits, shafts, pit houses and modern disturbances in varying soil types. These measurements resulted in a very complex signal of the geophysical data. We used an integrated approach for the interpretation of data from magnetic gradiometer surveys, pulse-induction metal detection and ground-penetrating radar surveys. Thus it became possible to interpret most of the detected anomalies as archaeological features from the Slavic period or modern metal artefacts in the topsoil. The detection of the Iron Age shafts covered by complex settlement structures only became possible using high resolution electrical resistivity tomography and low frequency ground-penetrating radar.

Geophysical exploration of archaeological sites has been a successful tool becoming more and more popular in the last decades. Many archaeological features can be detected with magnetic gradiometry (MGR), such as fire places, burned loam, metal artifacts, or other remnants, which produce a remanent magnetic signal detectable on the surface. However, as magnetic minerals are also present in natural settings, e.g. sedimentary and magmatic rocks and sediments derived from these host rocks, the MGR signal from archaeological artifacts is often embedded in a broader geomorphological signal, which makes separation of the different sources difficult. We provide geophysical data from two complex archaeological sites in northern Germany, which have been obtained with different methods, e.g. magnetic gradiometry (MGR), electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), electro-magnetic mapping (EM), and ground-penetrating radar (GPR). The combination of geophysical methods maps different material properties of both the geomorphological and the archaeological sources. We then use the three-dimensional modeling tool PREDICTOR to analyze the sources for the geophysical signals, e.g. the dominant signal in Leimbach, resulting from infill of palaeo-channels in the settlement area, and fire places as well as shafts in the hill fort of Lossow. The model prediction enables us to quantify the structures in the sub-surface and therefore helps to unravel complex situations often present in archaeological excavations.

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