Geophysical investigations at the Himera archaeological site, northern Sicily

Abstract

In this paper we present a geophysical survey that was carried out as a research activity during field trips to the Himera archaeological site, where relics of a large Greek settlement are still buried, effected by a joint group of archaeologists and geophysicists during an educational project. Twodimensional (2D) resistivity and ground-penetrating radar (GPR) surveys were performed to locate buried archaeological structures at this archaeological site. The results of the GPR surveys show some anomalies characterized by semi-hyperbolic shapes. In some restricted areas of the town, two grids of parallel GPR profiles were acquired while time-and depth-slices were calculated to identify the extension of the buried structures. In fact, the shapes of many anomalies recognized in the slices seem to describe the distribution of the relics (i.e. walls, roads, etc.).A 2D electrical resistivity profile showed clear anomalies, which were connected with wall-like relics. This was also obtained by using on-site calibration on partially uncovered structures, while the low background resistivity values were interpreted as representing river deposits having different moisture characteristics. Recommendations were also given to the archaeological site-excavators, following which some of the results were confirmed by subsequent archaeological excavations.

The standardized pricking probe surveying and its use in Archaeology

“…The geo-probing radar (GPR) has been recently successfully applied in an archaeological study by Bonomo et al (2009). Capizzi et al (2007 compared two-dimensional electrical resistivity tomography (2D ERT) and GPR results, while in the archaeological study by Cardarelli et al (2008) magnetic, geoelectric and georadar results were inter-compared.…”

Magnetic gradient and ground penetrating radar prospecting of buried earthen archaeological remains at the Qocho City site in Turpan, China

“…GPR 2D or 3D surveys provide depth information of the archaeological remains. Many successful application cases of both technologies are reported in the detection of stone structures, wooden structures, ditches, and so on (for example, Bonomo, Osella, and Ratto (); Capizzi et al (); Conyers (); Gaffney et al (); Kadioglu (); Di Mauro et al (); Scardozzi, Giese, and Hübner (); Thompson and Pluckhahn ()). For the detection of earthen remains, there are only a limited number of papers from a ceremonial site of Cahuachi in Peru, which lies in the desert environment (Masini et al ; Lasaponara et al ).…”

“…The use of geophysical methods to detect buried ruins in the archaeological investigation has been widely reported. Geophysical technologies are applied for guiding excavation (Capizzi et al 2007;Forte and Pipan 2008;Porsani, Jangelme, and Kipnis 2010;Sarris et al 2013;Zananiri, Hademenos, and Piteros 2010) and for analysing larger layout of a site by extending the mapping of ruins that have already been excavated (Bossuet et al 2012;Gaffney et al 2000;Seren et al 2004;Utsi 2010;Verdonck et al 2012) and capturing the integrity degree of standing monuments (Masini, Persico, and Rizzo 2010;Nuzzo and Quarta 2012;Papadopoulos et al 2012). Compared with traditional excavation, which would be time consuming and would possibly cause damage to the existing topography and ruins within the study area, geophysical technologies provide an efficient and non-destructive tool.…”

Combining Multiple Electrode Arrays for Two-Dimensional Electrical Resistivity Imaging Using the Unsupervised Classification Technique

“…Several researchers have compared different electrode arrays individually on the basis of their sensitivity analysis, depth of investigations, and responses to resolving vertical or horizontal structures (SASAKI 1992;DAHLIN 2001;BENTLEY and GHARIBI 2004;FIANDACA et al 2005;CAPIZZI et al 2007;BERGE and DRAHOR 2009;MARTORANA et al 2009;NEYAMADPOUR et al 2010;RUCKER 2012). Meanwhile, in related studies, the use of joint inversion techniques have been introduced and used for combining two or more geophysical data into a single image for the cross gradients (GALLARDO and MEJU 2003 and structural approach (HABER and OLDENBURG 1997).…”