“Casa dei Vettii” & “Casa del Centenario” (Pompeii, Na): two different subsoils by microgravity survey

Abstract

In order to define the subsoils of two different ancient Roman Houses, exactly Casa dei Vettii and Casa del Centenario, a microgravity survey was carried out. Firstly, Casa dei Vettii’s microgravity survey was carried out to analyse the causes that generated a sinkhole in this ancient house. Instead, Casa del Centenario’s survey was carried out to guide the archaeological excavation, to recognize the dimension and trend of cavities, rooms and walls and to understand if they have natural or anthropic origin. For this reason, this House became the first yard-workshop-school for different scientific branches (archaeology, geology, geophysics, etc.). The gravity maps of Bouguer for these two houses are qualitatively similar. It is due to regional and geological causes, precisely to the depth of Lattari Mountains’ carbonatic structure (from south to north) that hides the anomalies at lower depth.