Abstract
We present the results of an electrical resistivity investigation performed at Castle of Zena (Castello di Zena), a 13th-century fortress located between the towns of Fiorenzuola and Piacenza in the Emilia Romagna Region (Northern Italy), in the frame of a project of restoration. Dipole-dipole resistivity tomographies were planned in three areas suspected of containing buried archaeo-architectural remnants. Data analysis has been made using a 3D tomography imaging approach based on the concept of occurrence probability of anomaly sources in the electrical resistivity distribution. The 3D tomography has allowed three interesting anomaly source areas to be identified in the 1-2 m depth range below ground level. Subsequent excavations have brought to light a giacciara, that is, a brickwork room for food maintenance, a furnace, and the basement of a wing of the castle destroyed in the 18th century, exactly in correspondence with the anomaly sources detected by the resistivity tomography.
Highlights
Geoelectrics is one of the most reliable prospecting tools in the field of Cultural Heritage, thanks to the technological and methodological developments in recent years, which have made it a fast target-oriented method
This paper presents the results of an electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) survey, carried out about the Castle of Zena (Castello di Zena) (Figure 1), which is a fortress located near the village of Carpaneto Piacentino, in the lowland between the towns of Fiorenzuola and Piacenza (Emilia Romagna Region, Italy)
The ERT survey was addressed to study the nature of the subsoil in three different zones, which the historians involved in the project suspected to contain remnants of great archaeo-architectural interest
Summary
Geoelectrics is one of the most reliable prospecting tools in the field of Cultural Heritage, thanks to the technological and methodological developments in recent years, which have made it a fast target-oriented method. To enhance the resolution power of the method, a great help is provided by the recently developed electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) approach, which involves the acquisition and processing of large datasets. The whole complex, despite the several repairs which it has been subject to in past ages, still preserves the ancient character of a fortress of square plan, as documented in the drawing of Figure 2, dating back to 1701 and based on a land map of 1591. The ERT survey was planned in the framework of the SOCRATES project, sponsored by institutional subjects and finalised to the study and preservation of the castle and surrounding areas. The ERT survey was addressed to study the nature of the subsoil in three different zones, which the historians involved in the project suspected to contain remnants of great archaeo-architectural interest
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