The Tres Tabernae archeological site (Cisterna di Latina, Italy): new evidence revealed through an integrated geophysical investigation

Abstract

«Mercator» (Medocc, INTERREG IIIB) is a European project that is aimed at a detailed investigation of the historical and archeological heritage of the Mediterranean area. Within this project, broad research is being financed regarding the importance of the development of the main ancient merchant routes in this region. These various tasks include this integrated geophysical survey at the Tres Tabernae site, an ancient statio along the Appian way (close to Latina, central Italy). This was carried out using several techniques that are focused on the identification of buried archeological remains. The main goal of this investigation was to cover the area surrounding this partially excavated site to obtain a quick, but meaningful, result relating to the presence of interesting buried features. For this, the geophysical techniques involved were frequency-domain electromagnetic induction, groundpenetrating radar, and magnetometry. To obtain the best results, these methods were optimized, taking into account the kind of structures involved and their relation to the environmental context. The combination of these different geophysical techniques shows good results, indicating the possible presence of new buried structures, such as walls, floors and a lead pipe.