International Conference on GPR in Archaeology (Nara, February 2001)

The analysis of the Roman - Theatre of Aosta (Northern Italy) using non-destructive GPR method

Salvatore Piro

The analysis of ancient historical buildings is achieved using different methods in which, according to the case, priority may be given to historical research by the documentary sources, comparative studies of style and architectonic forms, stratigraphic interpretation of the construction elements and their material characteristics. In all these cases the use of analytical and investigator technologies involving scientific equipment represent a useful contribution to the identification, measurement, description and classification of the historical constructions.

This contribution becomes even more useful when the historical events associated with a site lead to the disappearance of pre-existing parts of a building which are important for the reconstruction of the historical chronology of the monument.

Non-destructive GPR system may be used to identify structures or cavities lying below present floor level and to identify variations in the fabric of the ancient walls. With this approach, an investigation, over some ashlars of the Roman Theatre of Aosta, has been made with the aim to establish the state of conservation of the pillars. The ashlars of the theatre were built using puddinga - stones. Six different ashlars, characterised by different granulometry and situated at different heigth, have been surveyed using GPR system, equipped with an high-frequency antenna (1.5 GHz). Over the selected ashlars, an high-resolution acquisition techniques has been applied with the aim to reconstructe the investigated volume.

The acquisition technique and the obtained results are presented and discussed.

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