Studi geofisici per la topografia antica e l’archeologia del paesaggio: l’area archeologica di Flumeri (AV)

Abstract

Historic landscape and cultural heritage are often integrated into a system of protection and valorisation through the global approach of archaeology and landscape archaeology. This system is conceived as a territorial study collecting all the evidence of human presence and its history, allowing the assessment of the historical and archaeological component through evolutionary dynamics. Therefore the study of landscape archaeology is central to the design and programming of territorial works. The "landscape system", the result of the coexistence of environmental and human dynamics, has meant that territorial transformation processes have become the object of scientific interest assuming considerable political importance. In this paper, we present the preliminary results of a geophysical prospections for a map of the archaeological potential of the territory of Flumeri in Avellino, Italy. This diagnostic contribution was designed to give a distinctive and better representation of the territory. The scientific approach chosen for this project is the result of a multidisciplinary convergence: bibliographical and archival research, analysis of topographic and photogrammetric surveys, systematic investigations of the territory and geophysical survey. These diverse non-invasive geophysical methods allowed us to define and detail the archaeological potential of the studied area in a better way; by defining micro-areas of geophysical survey starting with defining macro-areas of high archaeological potential. This approach has a double value: the geophysical surveys serve as a support for the archaeological knowledge of the area and the archaeological knowledge helps towards the identification of areas for geophysical survey.

3D GPR Model in the Military District of San Giacomo Degli Spagnoli (Palermo)

“…Figure 2 shows a schematic and approximate map reconstructed by Di Giovanni [3] of the hypothetical distribution of the main buildings, streets, and boundary walls of the Galka in the Middle Ages (Figure 2a), compared to today's satellite photo of the same area (Figure 2b).…”

“…In this area, in Norman times, an underground tunnel passed [3,7]. This, passing near the Punic walls, led from the Royal Palace to the old Archbishop's Palace, at that time located behind the current Cathedral.…”

“…Already in the Arab period, in which the city had changed its appearance expanding towards the sea, in the Galka quarter there were, among others, two churches, no longer existing today, called San Giacomo la Mazara (a term that must have come from the ancient Arab term "ma'sar", which means mill) and Santa Maria La Mazara. The two churches, although very close to each other [3], were quite distinct and still existed in 1631 [4]. For the church of San Giacomo La Mazara, detailed information is reported on the shape of the plant (Figure 3), which was quadrangular, divided into five ships by four rows of columns [5]-an unusual feature for churches of that period which suggests a pre-existing mosque transformed in the church [4].…”

“…For the church of San Giacomo La Mazara, detailed information is reported on the shape of the plant (Figure 3), which was quadrangular, divided into five ships by four rows of columns [5]-an unusual feature for churches of that period which suggests a pre-existing mosque transformed in the church [4]. From the planimetric sketch (Figure 3), the church should have had a width of about 12 m and a length of about 20 m. Less information is available about the church of Santa Maria La Mazara [3], some remains of which were still visible in the 19th century, according to [6]. When, in the fifteenth century, for unknown reasons, the church of San Giacomo Mazara was demolished, another church named after the same saint was built.…”

“…The churches still present in the neighborhood today are Santa Maria Maddale San Giacomo dei Militari, and a small thirteenth-century church named San Paolo d'A (Figure 4). Of these three historic buildings, the best preserved is undoubtedly the chu In this area, in Norman times, an underground tunnel passed [3,7]. This, passing near the Punic walls, led from the Royal Palace to the old Archbishop's Palace, at that time located behind the current Cathedral.…”