Integrated Geophysical Investigations at the Greek Kamarina Site (Southern Sicily, Italy)

Kamarina, located in southern Sicily (Italy), was an important Greek colony since its foundation
in the sixth century BC. Archaeological excavations, carried out since the twentieth
century, uncovered only limited portions of the site so far. Despite the importance of the
Greek colony, the presence of remarkable buildings that archaeologists expected to bring to
light has not found fully correspondence in the archaeological excavations. Consequently,
the integrated geophysical prospection carried out in the study area is aimed to support and
address the future archaeological investigations. After the photographic and thermographic
survey obtained by an unmanned aerial vehicle, we performed a systematic survey through
ground magnetic and GPR methods over an area of 6200 m2. The acquisition procedures
have been optimized in order to get the best results combining high resolution and elevated
speed of acquisition. The results derived from the three geophysical techniques have been
conveniently combined by means of a cluster analysis, allowing us to clearly identify a
series of buried archaeological features. Because of their geometrical characteristics, often
in good agreement with the spatial arrangement of the archaeological remains at the surface,
these buried archaeological features can be interpreted as roads, walls, or buildings
foundations in which the various construction phases of the city can be clearly recognized.
The integrated approach has proven to be essential for a robust interpretation of the archaeogeophysical
investigation.