Integrating Geophysical and Photographic Data to Visualize the Quarried Structures of the Roman Town of Bassianae

Large parts of the urban layout of the abandoned Roman town of Bassianae (in present-day Serbia) are still discernible on the surface today due to the deliberate and targeted quarrying of the Roman foundations. In 2014, all of the town's intramural (and some extramural) areas were surveyed using aerial photography, ground-penetrating radar, and magnetometry to analyze the site's topography and to map remaining buried structures. The surveys showed a strong agreement between the digital surface model derived from the aerial photographs and the geophysical prospection data. However, many structures could only be detected by one method, underlining the benefits of a complementary archaeological prospection approach using multiple methods. This article presents the results of the extensive surveys and their comprehensive integrative interpretation, discussing Bassianae's ground plan and urban infrastructure. Starting with an overview of this Roman town's research history, we present the details of the triple prospection approach, followed by the processing, integrative analysis, and interpretation of the acquired data sets. Finally, this newly gained information is contrasted with a plan of Roman Bassianae compiled in 1935.

Unfortified Settlements of the Cheptsa Culture (9th–13th Centuries): Ambiguity of Interpretation and Delimitation of Boundaries

Unfortified rural settlements have traditionally been detected by the presence of surface finds in tilled soil or of a cultural layer in test pits, by the conformity of the area to known landscape features, and by the absence of salient signs of defensive structures. The totality of these parameters is not always an unambiguous indicator of an unfortified settlement. Owing to intense tillage in the late 20th century, affecting many sites in Central Russia and the western Urals, their outward features have been obliterated, and erosion has resulted in a gradual displacement of habitation deposits from watersheds and slopes to negative landforms. Given these destructions and the resulting unreliability of traditional archaeological criteria, the most efficient way of revealing unfortified settlements, delineating their boundaries, and tentatively reconstructing their layouts, is to use multidisciplinary approach. This study focuses on medieval unfortified settlements in northern Udmurtia—Nizhnebogatyrskoye I, and Kushmanskoye II and III. Their outward features are virtually identical. They were explored using geophysical prospection, soil drilling, and archaeological excavations. On the basis of the results, types of settlement were reliably determined and boundaries of cultural layer were delimited. In all cases, preliminary interpretations were rejected. Kushmanskoye III is shown to be a fortified settlement, and Kushmanskoye II is likely to have been a medieval economic development zone without any structures. In the case of Nizhnebogatyrskoye I, its previously determined boundaries, deduced from the distribution area of finds and landscape features, were substantially corrected.

Shallow Offshore Geophysical Prospection of Archaeological Sites in Eastern Mediterranean

Geophysical prospecting methods have been extensively used to outline buried antiquities in terrestrial sites. Despite the frequent application of these mapping and imaging approaches for the detection of archaeological relics in deep-water marine environments (e.g., shipwrecks), the aforementioned processes have minimal contribution when it comes to understanding the dynamics of the past in coastal and shallow aquatic archaeological sites. This work explores the possibilities of multicomponent geophysical techniques in revealing antiquities that have been submerged in diverse shallow coastal marine environments in the eastern Mediterranean. A group of four sites in Greece (Agioi Theodoroi, Olous, Lambayanna) and Cyprus (Pafos) spanning from prehistory to Roman times were chosen as test sites to validate the efficiency of electrical resistivity tomography, magnetic gradiometry, and ground penetrating radar methods. The comprehensive analysis of the geophysical data completed the picture for the hidden archeological elements in all the sites. The results manifest the significance and the potential of these methods for documenting and understanding the complex archaeological sites encountered in the Mediterranean. In view of climate change and the risks related to future sea level rise and erosion of low-level coastal areas, the results of this work could be integrated in a strategic framework to develop an effective interdisciplinary research model that can be applied to similar shallow water archaeological surveys, thus substantially contributing towards cultural resources management.

Utility of forward and inverse modeling in 2D electric tomography for Hydrogeologic studies

The choice of adequate techniques and arrays in electric tomography prospection is a difficult task; it depends generally on subsurface geology and the referred objective, this study is conducted in southern Algerian Sahara aquifer using 2D electric tomography techniques, the goal is testing different arrays configuration, using 2D model simulating the subsurface geology, the validated parameters from the theoretical study are applied to the real data, the results attest the usefulness of synthetic modeling choosing the correct parameters in geophysical prospection.

Geophysical Prospection on the Ancient Tombs of Katartobe Burial Ground in Kazakhstan

Purpose. In 2015–2017, geophysical prospection (GPR survey and aerial photography) was conducted on Saka tombs of Katartobe burial ground in southeastern Kazakhstan. Modern methods of studying mounds supported new information to reconstruct tomb characteristics and supplement archaeological research of ancient nomads in Kazakhstan. Results. A GPR survey was carried out with mound and near-burial space at 27 tombs. On the radargrams, round, square, and oval shaped mounds covered with stones was traced. The centre of the mounds gave a weak reading, presumed to be the result of a wooden outer coffin. The boundary stones surrounding the mounds appear to be in two rows with disconnected sections on the east and west central sides. Occasionally, the role of the boundary stones was executed by a ditch enclosure. All the burial sites were damaged by robbers. Archaeological work as a whole confirmed the results of geophysical studies. Meanwhile, the GPR’s low wavelength depth is less effective to reveal inner structures of the large mounds. Aerial photography and photogrammetry methods compose an estimation model of all of Katartobe. This supplemented the accurate information regarding the amount of tombs on the site, due to the confirmed existence of eight additional mounds. It also provides data on the size and volume of each mound. According to the photo topographic analysis, ten small tombs of the Wusun period, represented by circular mounds were detected close to the big mounds. Conclusion. The results of geophysical prospection showed information about construction of mounds covered by stone and boundary stone around mounds. It also offered information about new mounds not detected by traditional archaeological methods. GPR survey and aerial photography provides a new method to be an important part for archaeological studies of ancient culture.

An integrated geoarchaeological approach to late Iron Age settlement at Haštelina hillfort (Lopar, Island of Rab, Croatia) using Amplitude Data Comparison (ADC) method and trial excavation

Geophysical prospection and small-scale archaeological excavation were undertaken on the site of Kaštelina, Late Iron Age hillfort settlement located on a small coastal promontory of Stolac in the east part of the Rab island (Kvarner gulf, Croatia). Carried out by a Polish – Croatian team within the “Archaeological topography of the island of Rab” programme, the aim of this research was to obtain preliminary information relevant to determining the periods of occupation, degree of preservation, nature of the selected site features and potential of this site for further investigation. Multidisciplinary methods of research included ground penetrating radar and magnetometer together with the implementation using Amplitude Data Comparison (ADC) method which resulted in detecting remains of Late Iron Age building structures distributed over the northwest side of the Stolac promontory. Archaeological excavations that followed the geophysical survey resulted in unearthing remains of a dwelling together with its associated outdoor facilities. Benefits of multidisciplinary approach on the site of Kaštelina will be preliminary presented, stressing out the importance of gathered data for the general understanding of Late Iron Age settlements and their internal organisation in a wider context.

New findings about the arrangement of internal buildings in La Tène quadrangular enclosures in Bohemia based on the example of the site of Markvartice, East Bohemia Nové poznatky k organizaci vnitřní zástavby laténských čtyřúhelníkových valových areálů v Čechách na příkladu lokality Markvartice, okr. Jičín

The article presents the results of geophysical prospection in the quadrangular enclosure of Markvartice, Jičín district, which was carried out in 2018. The obtained data resulted in new findings about the arrangement of internal buildings within sites of this kind known from the territory of Bohemia. The ascertained form of architectural arrangement of the internal space has exact analogies only in identical types of LT C2–D1 enclosures known from the territory of southern Germany. The questions of its particular form, classification possibilities and importance are discussed. The results also confirm the affiliation of the whole enclosure with La Tène sites, the so-called Viereckschanzen, which was repeatedly disputed in the past.