Ground‐penetrating Radar and Electromagnetic Archaeogeophysical Investigations at the Roman Legionary Camp at Legio, Israel

Abstract

Historical sources indicate that the Roman Sixth Legion Ferrata established a permanent camp in the Jezreel Valley (Israel) in the vicinity of the archaeological site currently known as Legio (el-Lajjun) near a historical Roman road junction to the south of Tel Megiddo. While archaeological surveys have demonstrated that indeed there was a strong Roman presence at the site, the precise location of the legionary camp has not been demonstrated conclusively. One of the authors (Tepper) has made a topographical and archaeological argument that the low hill, known locally as el-Manach, on the eastern edge of the site is, indeed, the location of the camp. To test this hypothesis, we conducted ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and electromagnetic (EM) archaeogeophysical surveys at the site. In particular, we studied the hypothetical northern corner of the camp in an effort to confirm the presence of archaeological features consistent with Roman military construction. Data from both studies were combined and compared with evidence proffered by Tepper's historical and geographical research. This study provides strong evidence for architectural remains on the hill of el-Manach, and concludes that it is highly likely that such remains relate to the Roman camp of the Sixth Legion. Figure 9. Close up of study area: shaded relief map of el-Manach with 0.42-0.85 m GPR depth slice with anomalies marked A-I (cf. Figure 10). Note the northern linear depression marked with short dashed white lines (M. Adams and J. Pincus). Figure 10. Shaded relief map of el-Manach with two hypothetical reconstructions of the camp based on the GPR and EM data. The smaller option appears in white, with fossae reconstructed in short dashed lines and camp walls in long dashed lines. The larger option appears in white with black extension, with fossae reconstructed in short dashed lines and camp walls in long dashed lines. The location of the western edge and eastern edge is estimated for illustrative purposes only (M. Adams and Y. Tepper).

Ground Penetrating Radar Investigation of Corvin Castle (Castelul Corvinilor), Hunedoara, Romania

“…Even though historical accounts of Corvin Castle are sparse and can be inconsistent or difficult to obtain, GPR scans were able to confirm features reported in both plans and textual sources, especially the foundation of the 14th century fortress walls (e.g., Figures 15,22,and 24). In addition, GPR expands our knowledge of known features, corrects previous assumptions, and even identifies unreported substructures and architectural features, especially in the White Tower and the chapel (e.g., Figures 18,19,and 24).…”

“…Similar to this work, GPR has been used to detect previous construction phases and crypts while mapping humid areas in cathedrals [19,20]. Additional works point to the potential of GPR to provide useful information about moisture ingress [21], subtle foundational and archaeological structures [22,23], and partially collapsed ancient walls [24]. As such, GPR is a natural choice to gather and verify important details about Corvin Castle's history and physical structure.…”

Exploring Ephemeral Features with Ground-Penetrating Radar: An Approach to Roman Military Camps

“…We aim to increase our understanding of previously mapped structures and detect new features that could help better characterise these sites, i.e., defensive elements guarding the gates. Although other geophysical techniques (fluxgate magnetometer) were used to explore these sites during our field activities, we will focus on the contributions of GPR since its use to document ephemeral structures in Roman military contexts is not as usual [13,26,27].…”

“…GPR is a well-known geophysical technique in archaeological research [19,20,[28][29][30]. When combined with other geophysical methods (i.e., magnetometer, electric resistivity, or electromagnetic induction), it has been proven helpful in studying Roman military sites [13,26,27,[31][32][33]. However, the spectacular results obtained in permanent military bases tend to make us forget that most archaeological sites related to the Roman army were ephemeral installations briefly occupied, i.e., marching camps, structures related to siege scenarios, construction camps, etc., [34].…”

Differentiating tidal and groundwater dynamics from barrier island framework geology: Testing the utility of portable multifrequency electromagnetic induction profilers

“…The literature on near-surface applied EM geophysics is far ranging (see Everett and Farquharson, 2012), from modeling and inversion offerings (McNeill, 1980;Everett and Weiss, 2002;Sasaki and Meju, 2006;Santos et al, 2010; to case studies in unexploded ordnance, soil science, and archeology (Benavides et al, 2009;Sudduth et al, 2010;de Smet et al, 2012;Pincus et al, 2013). Comparatively few studies have used EMI methods in coastal environments (Paine et al, 2004;Seijmonsbergen et al, 2004;Vrbancich, 2009;Christensen and Halkjaer, 2010;Nenna et al, 2013;Delefortrie et al, 2014b), with most of these focusing on mapping saltwater intrusion.…”