Micro-Scale Mapping Using Ground-Penetrating

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 124-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennie O. Sturm ◽  
Patricia L. Crown

AbstractGround-penetrating radar (GPR) has become a common method for mapping archaeological sites in the American Southwest. A less tested use for this method is to survey architectural spaces within larger pueblos to map features that may relate to the function, use, and abandonment of a specific room. In Chaco Canyon, GPR was used in a room (Room 28) within Pueblo Bonito prior to excavation to determine the presence and depth of buried features. Comparison with excavation results provides a means to evaluate how well this method mapped features in this small space. Three categories of features within this room, posts/postholes, entryways, and burned materials, were successfully identified in the GPR maps. By comparing this GPR survey with the subsequent excavation, we determined how GPR reflected these architectural features, allowing us to develop a set of expectations for using this method to identify similar features in other interior pueblo rooms.

2014 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabian Welc ◽  
Radosław Mieszkowski ◽  
Sebastian Kowalczyk ◽  
Jerzy Trzciński

Abstract This paper presents the preliminary results of ground penetrating radar sounding applied at the desert archaeological site in Saqqara (Egypt). The survey was carried out in 2012 within a project realized by Institute of Archaeology, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw and the Faculty of Geology, University of Warsaw. One of the key aims of the research was testing the application of ground penetrating radar to non-invasive surveys of desert archaeological sites. Radargrams obtained for area of so called the Dry Moat channel surrounding the Step Pyramid complex have shown the geological structure of its filling. It comprises among others debris-sand conglomerate of diluval origin characterized by a significant content of the clay fraction and clay minerals. Such lithological content strongly attenuate the propagation of EM waves, restricting the depth range of the GPR survey. The conducted geophysical prospection west to the Step Pyramid in Saqqara has confirmed the high applicability of the GPR method in non-invasive studies of vast architectural structures, such as the monumental ditch surrounding the Step Pyramid known as the Dry Moat. It should summarised that high horizontal resolution obtained during GPR survey is a result of local geological structure of the searched area, i.e. strong lithological contrast of the sediments filling the Dry Moat, which, depending on their mineralogical composition


Heritage ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 1097-1116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luigi Capozzoli ◽  
Sabrina Mutino ◽  
Maria Grazia Liseno ◽  
Gregory De Martino

This paper describes the results obtained using an archaeogeophysical-based approach for discovering new Roman structures belonging to the ancient settlement of Forentum, currently identifiable by a well-preserved sanctuary from the third century BC. The investigated area has been affected by invasive anthropic activities that have partially damaged the Roman structures. Extensive geophysical measurements, including detailed ground-penetrating radar investigations supported by magnetometric data, have allowed for the identification of an impressive complex of structures composed of various buildings. Magnetometric and electromagnetic anomalies suggest the existence of an “urban” dimension close to the Gravetta Sanctuary, totally unearthed and unknown until now, organized into regular patterns in a similar way to the most famous site in the vicinity of Bantia, or the famous Apulian archaeological sites of Ordona and Arpi.


2016 ◽  
Vol 40 ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Belinda Duke ◽  
Nigel J Chang ◽  
Ian Moffat ◽  
Wayne Morris

<p>The Mun River valley is well known for its moat-bound mounded archaeological sites that are usually associated with Iron Age occupation (~500BC- AD500).  The investigation of these sites has provided a wealth of information on the changing social and environmental conditions during prehistory.  In recent years, research has identified a greater diversity of site morphologies in the region, many of which, importantly, do not appear to have moats surrounding them.  This paper seeks to investigate whether the apparently ‘non-moated’ mound site of Non Klang (Nong Hua Raet village) was actually moated in the past, and if such, now in-filled features can be investigated through non-destructive Ground Penetrating Radar methodology.  Additionally, while large external moats can be observed in the modern day topography at sites such as Ban Non Wat, excavation has demonstrated that further, invisible, water management features exist beneath the surface within the current mound boundary of the site.  These are probably Iron Age precursors to the later more extensive and still visible moats.  This paper seeks to answer several fundamental questions: What application can GPR have at mounded sites in Southeast Asia?  Do invisible moats exist?  How will this affect our understanding of the broader prehistoric landscape in the Upper Mun River Valley?  </p>


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Scott Erickson ◽  
◽  
Jackelyn M. Seamans ◽  
Thomas A. Wavrin ◽  
Alexander S. Kleinschmidt ◽  
...  

ACTA IMEKO ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Salvatore Piro ◽  
Daniela Zamuner

<p class="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 fail 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 in Roma, characterised by different targets and environmental conditions, are presented and discussed. The first site, a portion of Palatine Hill (archaeological center area of Roma) is characterized by natural soil on the surface and an overlapping of many archaeological structures in its volume. The second site, St. John Lateran Basilica (Roma), is characterized by artificial medium as road pavement, outside the basilica, and ancient buildings, below the actual basilica. The paper illustrates the two GPR surveys and the obtained results.</p>


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 1478 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bianco ◽  
De Giorgi ◽  
Giannotta ◽  
Leucci ◽  
Meo ◽  
...  

The regular application of geophysical survey techniques to evaluate archaeological sites is well established as a method for locating, defining, and mapping buried archaeological materials. However, it is not always feasible to apply a range of different methods over a particular site or landscape due to constraints in time or funding. This paper addresses the integrated application of three geophysical survey methods over an important archaeological site located in south Italy. In particular, it is focused on the results achieved from a past geophysical survey and the ongoing excavations performed by archaeologists in the site of Muro Leccese. Muro Leccese (Lecce) is one of the most important Messapian archaeological sites in southern Italy. The archaeological interest of the site was generated since the discovery of the remains of Messapian walls (late 4th–3rd centuries BC). With the aim of widening the archaeological knowledge of the Messapian settlement, several integrated methods, including magnetometry, ground-penetrating radar, and electrical resistivity tomography were used on site to fulfill a number of different research objectives. Since the most important targets were expected to be located at shallow soil depth, a three-dimensional (3D) ground-penetrating radar (GPR) survey was carried out in two zones, which were labeled respectively as zone 1 and zone 2, and were both quite close to the archaeological excavations. The GPR investigations were integrated with a 3D electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) survey in zone 1 and with a magnetometric, in gradiometry configuration survey in zone 2. The integration of several techniques allowed mapping the structural remains of this area and leading the excavation project. The geophysical results show a good correspondence with the archaeological features that were found after the excavation. Current work on the geophysical survey data using different codes for the processing of the data and merging different datasets using a Geographic Information System allowed achieving a user-friendly visualization that was presented to the archaeologists.


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