Rockfall Threatening Cumae Archeological Site Fruition (Phlegraean Fields Park—Naples)

Abstract

Natural hazards threaten many archaeological sites in the world; therefore, susceptibility analysis is essential to reduce their impacts and support site fruition by visitors. In this paper, rockfall susceptibility analysis of the western slope of the Cumae Mount in the Cumae Archaeological Site (Phlegraean Fields, Naples), already affected by rockfall events, is described as support to a management plan for fruition and site conservation. Being the first Greek settlement in southern Italy, the site has great historical importance and offers unique historical elements such as the Cumaean Sibyl’s Cave. The analysis began with a 3D modeling of the slope through digital terrestrial photogrammetry, which forms a basis for a geomechanical analysis. Digital discontinuity measurements and cluster analysis provide data for kinematic analysis, which pointed out the planar, wedge and toppling failure potential. Subsequently, a propagation-based susceptibility analysis was completed into a GIS environment: it shows that most of the western sector of the site is susceptible to rockfall, including the access course, a segment of the Cumana Railroad and its local station. The work highlights the need for specific mitigation measures to increase visitor safety and the efficacy of filed-based digital reconstruction to support susceptibility analysis in rockfall prone areas.

Natural Events Threatening the Cultural Heritage: Characterization, Prevention and Risk Management for a Sustainable Fruition

“…In the first case, the risk arising from rockfalls is not limited to the site itself, where the safety and protection of visitors must be ensured, but also to the access infrastructure where visitors converge [8]. In this frame, the published papers underline the utility of combining conventional and remote surveying methodologies to achieve a reliable characterization of the unstable rock slopes threatening the fruition of historical and tourist sites [1,3]. Moreover, it was further proven that the interaction between rocks and water (rainfalls) leads to the worsening of the rock's mechanical and physical properties [4], stressing how rock weathering processes are a fundamental part of the geological cycle [9].…”

“…The paper entitled Rockfall Threatening Cumae Archeological Site Fruition (Phlegraean Fields Park-Naples) [3] focuses on the rock mass characterization at Cumae, one of the most important archaeological sites in Italy, whose fruition suffers from rockfall hazard. The susceptibility to rockfall of a sector of the Cumae Mount was analyzed by a GIS-based approach supported by a geomechanical and structural analysis of a dense point cloud built from a ground-based photogrammetric survey.…”

Photogrammetry as a New Scientific Tool in Archaeology: Worldwide Research Trends

“…However, other publications are indexed according to the journal, such as a case study of Mondújar castle (Spain) using UAV photogrammetry surveying for sustainable conservation [54] or the rockfall susceptibility analysis of the western slope of the Cumae Mount in the Cumae Archaeological Site (Phlegraean Fields, Naples, Italy) [55].…”

BEGEOSCIENTIST a young network - I Congresso Nazionale dei Giovani Geoscienziati

“…Given the considerable importance of the historical site of Cuma, this paper presents the analysis of the susceptibility to rockfall of the western slope of the Cumae Mount, already affected by rockfall events located near the railroad station and one of the main access roads to the park. A recent event occurred in August 2019 when a 0.5 m 3 boulder detached from the northern slope of the Cumae Mount and reached the local road immediately downslope (De Stefano et al, 2021). Due to the high speed with which they occur, rockfall events can cause catastrophic consequences, causing damage to infrastructures and above all threatening the safety of human lives.…”