scholarly journals Cultural Heritage and Rockfalls: Analysis of Multi-Scale Processes Nearby the Lucus Angitiae Archaeological Site (Central Italy)

Geosciences ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 521
Author(s):  
Emiliano Di Luzio ◽  
Luca Schilirò ◽  
Iolanda Gaudiosi

Archaeological areas in the mountain region of central Italy can be seriously threatened by geological hazards, and efforts are required to preserve cultural heritage. The Lucus Angitiae is a pre-Roman site located along the western edge of the Fucino Basin, the largest continental depression of central Apennines. The carbonate slope overhanging the area is affected by active rockfall processes from two main rock escarpments. In this paper, rockfall assessment was pursued through a 3D kinematic modelling, performed by adopting a probabilistic approach. Specific attention was dedicated to the choice and calibration of the input data, based on field evidence and a literature review. Two different sizes of wedge-shaped rock blocks were identified on rock escarpments, and specific stability analyses were performed. Sensitivity analyses accounting for possible triggering factors, such as water pressure increase and seismic action, were also carried out, together with an investigation of the seismological characteristics of the area. The results of the numerical simulations were used to design effective countermeasures in the framework of a mitigation plan for protection of the archaeological site. Finally, clues of gravity-driven slope deformations at the slope scale were documented, framing the rockfall process in a wider geological scenario.

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 1475 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paolo Mazzanti ◽  
Luca Schilirò ◽  
Salvatore Martino ◽  
Benedetta Antonielli ◽  
Elisa Brizi ◽  
...  

In this work, we describe a comprehensive approach aimed at assessing the slope stability conditions of a tuff cliff located below the village of Sugano (Central Italy) starting from remote geomechanical analysis on high-resolution 3D point clouds collected by terrestrial laser scanner (TLS) surveys. Firstly, the identification of the main joint systems has been made through both manual and automatic analyses on the 3D slope model resulting from the surveys. Afterwards, the identified joint sets were considered to evaluate the slope stability conditions by attributing safety factor (SF) values to the typical rock blocks whose kinematic was proved as compatible with tests for toppling under two independent triggering conditions: hydrostatic water pressure within the joints and seismic action. The results from the remote investigation of the cliff slope provide geometrical information of the blocks more susceptible to instability and pointed out that limit equilibrium condition can be achieved for potential triggering scenarios in the whole outcropping slope.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessia Nava ◽  
Elena Fiorin ◽  
Andrea Zupancich ◽  
Marialetizia Carra ◽  
Claudio Ottoni ◽  
...  

AbstractThis paper provides results from a suite of analyses made on human dental material from the Late Palaeolithic to Neolithic strata of the cave site of Grotta Continenza situated in the Fucino Basin of the Abruzzo region of central Italy. The available human remains from this site provide a unique possibility to study ways in which forager versus farmer lifeways affected human odonto-skeletal remains. The main aim of our study is to understand palaeodietary patterns and their changes over time as reflected in teeth. These analyses involve a review of metrics and oral pathologies, micro-fossils preserved in the mineralized dental plaque, macrowear, and buccal microwear. Our results suggest that these complementary approaches support the assumption about a critical change in dental conditions and status with the introduction of Neolithic foodstuff and habits. However, we warn that different methodologies applied here provide data at different scales of resolution for detecting such changes and a multipronged approach to the study of dental collections is needed for a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding of diachronic changes.


Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 1791
Author(s):  
Carmen Fattore ◽  
Nicodemo Abate ◽  
Farid Faridani ◽  
Nicola Masini ◽  
Rosa Lasaponara

In recent years, the impact of Climate change, anthropogenic and natural hazards (such as earthquakes, landslides, floods, tsunamis, fires) has dramatically increased and adversely affected modern and past human buildings including outstanding cultural properties and UNESCO heritage sites. Research about protection/monitoring of cultural heritage is crucial to preserve our cultural properties and (with them also) our history and identity. This paper is focused on the use of the open-source Google Earth Engine tool herein used to analyze flood and fire events which affected the area of Metaponto (southern Italy), near the homonymous Greek-Roman archaeological site. The use of the Google Earth Engine has allowed the supervised and unsupervised classification of areas affected by flooding (2013–2020) and fire (2017) in the past years, obtaining remarkable results and useful information for setting up strategies to mitigate damage and support the preservation of areas and landscape rich in cultural and natural heritage.


2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (6) ◽  
pp. 1167-1180
Author(s):  
Maurizio Lazzari ◽  
Lara De Giorgi ◽  
Giuseppe Ceraudo ◽  
Raffaele Persico

Geosciences ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 398
Author(s):  
Federico Cella ◽  
Rosa Nappi ◽  
Valeria Paoletti ◽  
Giovanni Florio

Sediments infilling in intermontane basins in areas with high seismic activity can strongly affect ground-shaking phenomena at the surface. Estimates of thickness and density distribution within these basin infills are crucial for ground motion amplification analysis, especially where demographic growth in human settlements has implied increasing seismic risk. We employed a 3D gravity modeling technique (ITerative RESCaling—ITRESC) to investigate the Fucino Basin (Apennines, central Italy), a half-graben basin in which intense seismic activity has recently occurred. For the first time in this region, a 3D model of the Meso-Cenozoic carbonate basement morphology was retrieved through the inversion of gravity data. Taking advantage of the ITRESC technique, (1) we were able to (1) perform an integration of geophysical and geological data constraints and (2) determine a density contrast function through a data-driven process. Thus, we avoided assuming a priori information. Finally, we provided a model that honored the gravity anomalies field by integrating many different kinds of depth constraints. Our results confirmed evidence from previous studies concerning the overall shape of the basin; however, we also highlighted several local discrepancies, such as: (a) the position of several fault lines, (b) the position of the main depocenter, and (c) the isopach map. We also pointed out the existence of a new, unknown fault, and of new features concerning known faults. All of these elements provided useful contributions to the study of the tectono-sedimentary evolution of the basin, as well as key information for assessing the local site-response effects, in terms of seismic hazards.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (8) ◽  
pp. 2299-2311
Author(s):  
Andrea Antonucci ◽  
Andrea Rovida ◽  
Vera D'Amico ◽  
Dario Albarello

Abstract. The geographic distribution of earthquake effects quantified in terms of macroseismic intensities, the so-called macroseismic field, provides basic information for several applications including source characterization of pre-instrumental earthquakes and risk analysis. Macroseismic fields of past earthquakes as inferred from historical documentation may present spatial gaps, due to the incompleteness of the available information. We present a probabilistic approach aimed at integrating incomplete intensity distributions by considering the Bayesian combination of estimates provided by intensity prediction equations (IPEs) and data documented at nearby localities, accounting for the relevant uncertainties and the discrete and ordinal nature of intensity values. The performance of the proposed methodology is tested at 28 Italian localities with long and rich seismic histories and for two well-known strong earthquakes (i.e., 1980 southern Italy and 2009 central Italy events). A possible application of the approach is also illustrated relative to a 16th-century earthquake in the northern Apennines.


2014 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Marchetti ◽  
Vincenzo Sapia ◽  
Adriano Garello ◽  
Donatella De Rita ◽  
Alessandra Venuti

<p>The Vulci archeological site was object of interest by the Soprintendenza ai beni culturali dell’Etruria meridionale (Italian government department responsible for southern Etruria’s cultural heritage) since the beginning of the 20th century. In 2001, the Ministero dei Beni Culturali (Italian ministry of cultural heritage) along with the local authorities, opened a natural-archeological park. In this area, it lies most of the ancient Etruscan city of Velch (today known by its Latin name, Vulci) including the Osteria Necropolis that is the object of this study. Recently, new archaeological excavations were made and the local authorities needed major geological information about the volcanic lithotypes where the Etruscans used to build their necropolis. The aim of this study is to define the geological and geophysical characteristics of the rock lithotypes present in the Vulci park. For this purpose, a geological map of the area (1:10000) has been realized. Moreover, two different geophysical methods were applied: measurements of magnetic susceptibility and electrical resistivity tomography. Magnetic susceptibility analyses clearly identify magnetic contrasts between different lithotypes; the characteristics of the pyroclastic flow that originated the Sorano unit 2 and its vertical facies variations are well recorded by this parameter that along with lithostratigraphic observations provides information about the depositional conditions. Two electrical resistivity tomographies were performed, which show the Sorano unit 2 thickness to be of c. 7 m with resistivity values ranging from 200 to 400 Ω·m. This kind of multidisciplinary approach resulted to be suitable to study this type of archaeological sites, revealing that areas characterized by a relevant thickness and wide areal extension of volcanic lithotypes can be a potential site where Etruscans might have excavated their necropolis.</p>


Author(s):  
José Bettencourt ◽  
Adilson Dias ◽  
Carlos Lima ◽  
Christelle Chouzenoux ◽  
Cristovão Fonseca ◽  
...  

Among the partners of the UNESCO Chair The Ocean’s Cultural Heritage are CHAM and IPC (Cape Verde) which defined as essential action the underwater archaeological site inventory of that archipelago. This action started in 2018 as part of the European project CONCHA, that aims to address the different ways that port cities developed around the Atlantic during the early modern era. CONCHA’s surveys were conducted on the island of Santiago, in Ribeira Grande anchorage, in São Francisco (17th century) and in Urânia shipwrecks (1809). The project included the underwater survey, a review of the documentation and of the archaeological materials, recovered from the sites, at the Museum of Archaeology in Praia. Dissemination and training activities were also carried out. This paper systematizes the results of these works.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 1356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabetta Colucci ◽  
Valeria De Ruvo ◽  
Andrea Lingua ◽  
Francesca Matrone ◽  
Gloria Rizzo

This study describes the technical-systemic and conceptual-informative interoperability tests for the integration of a Historic Building Information Modeling (HBIM) model in a 3D Geographic Information System (GIS) environment aimed to provide complete and useful documentation for multiscale analyses on cultural heritage particularly exposed to risks. The case study of the San Lorenzo Church in Norcia (Italy) has been chosen given the urgent need to update the existing documentation for its protection and conservation issues, due to the extensive damage suffered after the series of earthquakes that occurred in central Italy starting from summer 2016. Different tests to evaluate two levels of conceptual interoperability (technical and semantic) when importing the HBIM model into a GIS environment were performed, whether with commercial software or with open source ones (ArcGIS Pro and QGIS, respectively). A data integration platform (Feature Manipulation Engine, FME) has been used for converting the IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) data format into the GML (Geography Markup Language) format, in order to obtain a unique and unified model and vocabulary for the 3D GIS project, structured with different levels of detail, according to CityGML standard. Finally, as HBIM-GIS integration is considered, the loss of geometric and informative data has been taken into account and evaluated.


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