The study and characterization of Emperor Traiano's Villa (Altopiani di Arcinazzo, Roma) using high‐resolution integrated geophysical surveys

Abstract

AbstractIn this work, the results of high‐resolution integrated geophysical surveys of the archaeological site of Traiano's Villa (Altopiani di Arcinazzo, Roma, Italy) are presented. The Villa of Roman Emperor Marco Ulpio Traino (AD 98–117) was built in Arcinazzo (Italy), approximately 55 km northeast of Rome. Today, the only remains left standing at the site are the public building entrances comprising a small portion of the entire site. Over 5 ha, adjacent to the entrance remains, had not been surveyed. As part of an ongoing study to rescue this national archaeological treasure, high‐resolution ground‐penetrating radar (GPR) surveys, using a submetre profile spacing, integrated with a gradiometric survey, were conducted. Amplitude GPR time‐slice analysis indicates that many structural foundations and walls of the villa are still well preserved below the surface. Time‐slices below 1.5 m in one area indicate two large mushroom shaped structures enclosed within a large building over 100 m in length. These structures are believed to be dipping pools within a larger structure believed to be the bathhouse to the villa. At the location west of the bathhouse a large oval shaped anomaly 45 m along its major axis was located. This subsurface structure is believed to be an oval garden pond or a swimming pool. Several other remnants of rectangular buildings coincident with the oval structure but much deeper were also imaged. Other structures include a long rectangular corridor that contains many square shaped rooms, which has been interpreted as a criptoporticus.The magnetic map, related to part of the area investigated, shows many dipole anomalies. These anomalies represent linear and semicircular structures of the villa. The magnetic results provide complementary information to the GPR survey that lines out walls and floors. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.