Using the three-dimensional capabilities of GPR to reinterpret the Roman town of Mariana (Corsica)

Abstract

From a magnetic survey conducted in 2006 over the roman town of Mariana (Corsica) it was concluded that the town extended over most of the prospection area. A possible industrial zone was detected, and the orientation of most buildings suggested a close relationship to the excavated parts. No clear road traces could be detected, except for one of east-west alignment. The 2007 GPR survey over the clearest building structure detected in the magnetic survey showed that this building originally had a regular plan. Shallower walls run through the original structure, and appear east and west of the original building. This gives a possible explanation for the absence of a road network in the magnetic survey: zones devoid of structures in the early phases are possible locations for roads. The GPR survey also allowed a clearer analysis of a magnetically ‘empty’ area. A few linear anomalies, very weak in the magnetic survey, can be connected to GPR traces more to the south. This contradicts the hypothesis that this area represents the forum of Mariana.