Multi-parametric survey for archaeology: how and why, or how and why not?

Integrated near-surface geophysical survey of the Cathedral of Mallorca

“…Data processing separately provides quantitative results and comparable or complementary images of the medium. However, seismic surveys are not feasible in urban areas due to the problem of noise (Hesse, 1999). Passive seismic methods can be applied in this case.…”

“…However, in some circumstances, it is necessary to create a balance between performing a multi-survey using several geophysical methods and performing a single large survey using an appropriate method (Hesse, 1999). In our case, the dimensions of the area facilitated the application of different analysis methodologies to obtain complementary information about changes in materials and their quality.…”

Integrating pedological and geophysical methods to enhance the informative value of an archaeological prospection – The example of a Roman villa rustica near Regensburg, Germany

“…Mixed method approaches have been used by others before (e.g. Hesse, 1999;Gaffney and Gater, 2003;Bates at al., 2007).…”

Magnetic mapping, ground penetrating radar surveys and magnetic susceptibility measurements for the study of the archaeological site of Serra di Vaglio (southern Italy)

“…The main directions followed by geophysics applied to the archaeological research concern the survey of a broad area (>10 000 m 2 ) by means of only one method, or routine survey of small areas (z100 m 2 ) with an extremely large variety of instruments, namely when you have no a priori knowledge about the actual nature and context of the features sought beneath the ground [15]. In the second direction, in this work the integrated use of different magnetic and electromagnetic measurements allowed us to obtain very interesting information about the shape, the dimension and the depth of the investigated structures and the chemical composition of different materials.…”