Mapping the ancient port at the archaeological site of Itanos (Greece) using shallow seismic methods

Abstract

A shallow seismic survey was carried out at the archaeological site of Itanos,Crete to locate and map the ancient port.The target layer in the area surveyed consists of Permian^Triassic phyllites covered byalluvialdeposits.Seismicrefractionandreflectionexperimentswere carried out along eight profiles with a totallength 580 m. The seismicrefraction data depict tworefractors.Shear-wavevelocitiesindicatethat the first refractor, at depths ranging from 1 to 2 m, corresponds to the water table. The second one corresponds to the top of phyllites.The stacked section from the seismic reflection survey shows two major reflectors, attributed to the top andbottom ofthe eroded phyllites.Athree-dimensionalimage ofthe basement reliefindicated the potential shape and extent of Itanos port.Thisresult isfurthersupportedbyanthropogenic anomaliesontheresistivitymapsandsectionsobserved at locations where the depth to the top of the basement is small.The integration of the seismic data, aerialimageryandarchaeologicalfindingsindicatedthat theancient port, nowcoveredbyrecent deposits, was surrounded by the sea, the two acropolis to the north, a well to the east and a hill to the south

Detection of exposed and subsurface archaeological remains using multi-sensor remote sensing

“…The latest excavations at the site were initiated in 1993 by a collaborative campaign between the French School of Archaeology at Athens and the Institute for Mediterranean Studies (Greco et al, , 1997(Greco et al, , 1999(Greco et al, , 2001. Within the framework of the campaign, a systematic geophysical survey has been conducted in the region combining soil resistance mapping, 2D and 3D electrical tomography, magnetic mapping, electromagnetic mapping, seismic refraction and ground penetrating radar (Sarris et al, 1998;Vafidis et al, 1996Vafidis et al, , 2003a. Seismic data were able to map the depression of the ancient harbour, the eastern section of which reaches a depth of about 30 m. The basement consists of phyllitese quartzites while the overburden consists of recently deposited sediments (Sarris et al, 1998;Vafidis et al, 1996Vafidis et al, , 2003a.…”

“…Within the framework of the campaign, a systematic geophysical survey has been conducted in the region combining soil resistance mapping, 2D and 3D electrical tomography, magnetic mapping, electromagnetic mapping, seismic refraction and ground penetrating radar (Sarris et al, 1998;Vafidis et al, 1996Vafidis et al, , 2003a. Seismic data were able to map the depression of the ancient harbour, the eastern section of which reaches a depth of about 30 m. The basement consists of phyllitese quartzites while the overburden consists of recently deposited sediments (Sarris et al, 1998;Vafidis et al, 1996Vafidis et al, , 2003a. These surveys have also shown that archaeological remains at Itanos exist from the surface to a depth of 1e3 m (i.e., some of the subsurface remains exist within the penetration depth of long-wave solar radiation).…”

Integrated geophysical studies at ancient Itanos (Greece)

“…It covers a rectangular region of approximately 1500 m 2 , surrounded by the sea, the acropolis to the north and a hill to the south. This image indicates that the ancient port, covered by colluvium, is located south of the acropolis [24]. It extends to the west about 100 m from the present seashore.…”

“…The Geometrics ES2401 seismograph was used. The detailed description of the seismic experiment is given in Vafidis et al [24]. Five shots were selected for most seismic lines: one in the middle, two near shots at the edges of the line and two far shots.…”

Integrated near-surface geophysical survey of the Cathedral of Mallorca

“…Seismic surveys such as the S-wave refraction method are considered very valuable techniques for estimating the depth of modified soils (Murdie et al, 2003) and for determining changes in the ground, e.g., variations in the water table (Vafidis et al, 2003). However, the Cathedral is situated in the centre of Palma de Mallorca, and the high noise level makes the application of seismic methods difficult.…”