ABSTRACT
An important geological risk to which many towns in Puglia are exposed is sinking cavities in urban areas. For urban centers, studying, mapping, providing geological and speleological descriptions, classifying, and cataloging the forms and types of cavities is essential because cavities are linked to past local anthropic and natural processes at different sites. These circumstances could lead to the enhancement of existing underground cavities in urban areas through conservation and continuous monitoring. Unfortunately, in many cases, these underground cavities have been used as landfills and subsequently abandoned. In late March 2007, one of these cavities collapsed inside Gallipoli's inhabited center, causing damage to the structures but fortunately not human lives. In the area surrounding the collapsed cavity, a series of geophysical investigations were undertaken using ground penetrating radar in an attempt to delimit the area of collapse and develop possible interventions for restoration. In the same area, these measures were repeated 16 years later in December 2022 due to another collapse. The comparison between data acquired in these two periods shows that there were no strong changes apart from an increased presence of subsoil moisture in 2022.
ABSTRACT
The church of Santa Maria della Lizza is one of the most important examples of medieval architecture in the Salento Peninsula in south Italy. In order to understand the extension and layout of the crypts, integrated ground-penetrating radar (GPR) prospections and laser scanner surveys were undertaken in the church and in the surrounding areas. The analysis of the GPR measurements revealed many anomalies that could be ascribed to unknown structures (crypts), as well as other anomalies related to the old church. The GPR data were supported by the laser scanner data establishing the spatial relationship between the surface and the level below the church.
ABSTRACT
One of the most complex challenges of heritage sciences is the identification and protection of buried archaeological heritage in urban areas and the need to manage, maintain and inspect underground services. Archaeology and geophysics, used in an integrated way, provide an important contribution to open new perspectives in understanding both the history of cities and in helping the decision makers in planning and governing the urban development and management. The problems of identification and interpretation of geophysical features in urban subsoil make it necessary to develop ad hoc procedures to be implemented and validated in significant case studies. This paper deals with the results of an interdisciplinary project in Cusco (Peru), the capital of Inca Empire, where the georadar method was applied for the first time in the main square. The georadar method was successfully employed based on knowledge of the historical evolution of Cusco and the availability of archaeological records provided by some excavations nearby the study area. Starting from a model for the electromagnetic wave reflection from archaeological structures and pipes, georadar results were interpreted by means of comparative morphological analysis of high amplitude values observed from time slices with reflectors visualized in the radargrams.
ABSTRACT
The Messapian necropolis of Monte D'Elia is related to one of the most important ancient settlements in the Salento Peninsula (in south Italy). In order to understand the extension and layout of this necropolis in the various periods of its use, a ground-penetrating radar (GPR) prospection was undertaken in some important sample areas by a team of the Institute for Archaeological and Monumental Heritage of the National Research Council of Italy. The analysis of the GPR measurements revealed many anomalies that could be ascribed to archaeological structures (tombs), as well as other anomalies of presumable natural origin or referable to modern features. The data collected were georeferenced in the digital archaeological map of the site and integrated with a virtual reconstruction of the surveyed area.
