Reconstruction of a Mediterranean coast archaeological site by integration of geophysical and archaeological data: The eastern district of the ancient city of Nora (Sardinia, Italy)

Abstract

The archaeological site of Nora is built on a large peninsula that marks the Gulf of Cagliari (Sardinia island, Italy) at its southernmost part. As for most of the ancient coastal cities, the study of Nora is rather complex because of the partial (or complete) burial or submergence of the archaeological remains and their degradation induced by the progressive seawater entry. In recent years, an extensive multi-disciplinary research project, which involves disciplines varying from archeology to earth sciences, has started. In particular, in this paper the results of a high-resolution multi-methodological geophysical prospecting focused on the coastal area between land and sea, not considered in previous urban and marine archaeological researches, are reported and integrated with new archaeological data. The interpretation of the geophysical anomalies is well supported by the results of an archaeological excavation in the north-western sector of the survey area and suggests, in the eastern (not excavated) sector, the presence of buried structures that could lead to redraw the urban settlement of the area, with housing blocks connected by paved open spaces. Furthermore, the geophysical survey clearly identifies the sharp lowering of the andesitic bedrock from the foot of the Coltellazzo hill to the west, offering fundamental data to reconstruct the paleo-environmental landscape of the ancient settlement.