Multiple GPR surveys in urban area. The case of S. Giovanni in Laterano and S. Croce in Gerusalemme, as part of ERC Rome Transformed Project

Abstract

The geophysical prospection is generally considered as the attempt to locate structures of archaeological interest buried in the natural subsoil, but in many cases, when applied in urban centers, this attempt could file due to the effect and disturbances caused by recent man-made structures in the subsoil, covering any signal related to possible archaeological structures. In the present paper the GPR surveys carried out in two urban archaeological sites inRoma, characterised by different targets and environmental conditions, are presented and discussed. The Rome Transformed Project aims to enhance the knowledge of Rome place in cultural change across the Mediterranean world by mapping political, military and religious changes to the Eastern Caelian from the first to eighth centuries AD [4]. An important aspect of the project strategy is the employment of different geophysical methods (GPR and ERT) suitable for deep stratigraphic urban investigations. In the present paper the surveys made with GPR method to investigate different sites in the area of S. Giovanni in Laterano and Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, as part of the ERC-funded Rome Transformed project (2019-2024) are presented and discussed.