Abstract
This paper deals with the application of geophysical prospections to the study of the Church of Saint Cosma in Helerito inside the Monastery of Saints Cosma and Damiano (Tagliacozzo, L’Aquila, Italy). The research aimed to verify the presence of buried ancient archaeological structures of a construction phase older than the current building. Thus, a grid of ground-penetrating radar (GPR) profiles was carried out inside the building in the available spaces using a radar unit equipped with a multi-frequency antenna of 200–600 MHz. The analysis of 2D radargrams and horizontal slices relative to different temporal ranges led to the identification of significant regular patterns of the amplitude of the electromagnetic signals. The results suggest the presence of a buried structure below the analyzed surface.
Highlights
IntroductionGeneral preliminary considerations must necessarily be made in collaboration with archaeologists about the characteristics of the targets of the investigations, such as the type of objects to be researched, the supposed constituent material, the hypothesized geometry, the probable dimensions, and the presumed location depth
Geophysical surveys are largely applied in archaeological prospections [1,2]
In all radargrams, a strong reflection was displayed at about 28 ns that can be associated with the presence of a rocky layer
Summary
General preliminary considerations must necessarily be made in collaboration with archaeologists about the characteristics of the targets of the investigations, such as the type of objects to be researched, the supposed constituent material, the hypothesized geometry, the probable dimensions, and the presumed location depth. A technical and scientific analysis must be added to this evaluation considering the type of surface on which to operate, the spacing of the areas to be investigated, the type of terrain, the environmental noise in the area to be studied, the principles and the applicability of geophysical methods to use In this regard, many techniques are suitable for archaeological explorations. The geoelectrical method, having slower acquisition times and small invasiveness due to the need to insert electrodes into the surfaces/terrains compared with other methods, is ideal for identifying deep targets providing interpretable results in different soils and surfaces conditions. Many examples prove the efficiency of the method for the detection of near-surface archaeological structures, tombstones, and complex buried buildings [3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12]
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