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ArcheoSciences

In this paper, an integrated geophysical investigation of a sacred area in the archaeological site of Šapinuwa is presented. Šapinuwa was one of the important cities in the Hittite Empire. The archaeological site of Šapinuwa is located in the Çorum region of Central Anatolia, Turkey. The goal of the here presented integrative archaeological prospection investigation was to explore buried structures inside the so-called sacred Taşdöşem area (Taşdöşem means "the stone pavement") by employing a number of different near-surface geophysical prospection methods. To this purpose, magnetic gradiometry, ground-penetrating radar, electrical resistivity tomography, seismic refraction tomography, and multi-channel analysis of surface wave tomography were applied in this specific area. Overall, the results of the individual geophysical investigations were superimposed in order to obtain more detailed and comprehensive integrative interpretations on the burials contained inside this sacred area. Electrical tomography depth slices revealed the presence of an important structure buried inside the Taşdöşem area. Surprisingly, the V s velocity variations observed in the depth slices of the multi-channel analysis of surface wave tomography provided important information on the character of the burial structure. Additionally, seismic refraction tomography sections and depth slices confirmed the presence of the structures in the same locations. The result of the groundpenetrating radar investigation did not present sufficient certainty regarding the possible deeper burials, whereas the magnetic gradiometry survey gave some insight into near-surface structures. The combination of the employed geophysical prospection techniques was successfully able to characterize the structures that are assumed to have been buried within the Taşdöşem area. It is concluded that the integrated non-invasive geophysical archaeological prospection study conducted at Šapinuwa provides a good example on how to approach the investigation and documentation of sites similar to the Taşdöşem.ological sites with complex soil features. We know that archaeological sites can in general cause difficulties regarding geophysical prospection due to the often complex archaeological contexts, including a diverse range of physical inhomogeneity in the subsurface. The combined application of geophysical survey techniques at archaeological sites is a very useful approach for the location, detection, and imaging of buried archaeological features. Integrated geophysical investigations provide us with different data and corresponding interpretations. The success of each geophysical method depends on the respective physical contrast between the subsoil and the buried archaeological structures, which is site dependent, as well as on the dimensions and depths of the archaeological structures of interest. The heterogeneity of the local subsurface, the presence of bedrock, and the

The synthetic GPR modelling studies are quite important to evaluate the interpretation of shallow geological properties such as faulting, bedding, weathering etc. This study aims to simulate some shallow geological structures by GPR technique. To obtain a successful interpretation, we performed the synthetic modelling studies for paleoseismology, sedimentary and geotechnical problems using different values of electricalproperties that affect the radar signals. During the modelling studies, we produced a lot of models for various subsurface conditions. Also, real GPR data was collected on some geological problems. As a result, the combined usage of the real GPR data and synthetic modelling could be contributed the joint interpretation on shallow geological structures.

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