A GPR Array System for Fast Archaeological Mapping: Stream X at Aquinum Roman Site (Castrocielo, Italy)

To enhance the knowledge on the location of the unknown buried structures below levels currently studied through excavation at Ancient Aquinum (Castrocielo-Frosinone, Central Italy), an integrated archaeological and ground remote sensing study was initiated in 2008-2009 between University of Lecce and Institute for Technologies Applied to Cultural Heritage (ITABC, CNR) and it is still in progress today. To verify the preliminary interpretations and to enhance the subsurface knowledge in the centre of the urban area of Aquinum, an extensive geophysical survey, employing Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) with both single-channel equipment and multi-channel GPR systems, was expedited in June 2011. The remote sensing results indicate good correlation between the interpretation of aerial photographs and GPR images at different depths, in addition to the discovery new unexpected buried buildings. The survey were made with single-channel (GSSI SIR3000 with 500 MHz antenna) and multi-channel equipment using the new IDS STREAM X System for large-scale acquisition. The area of interest borders the first excavated portion of ancient public bath (thermae). In the present work a comparison between the data sets collected with the two different systems on the same area are analyzed and discussed. The archaeological excavations made (by Prof. Giuseppe Ceraudo – University of Salento, Lecce) during the summer 2011, have confirmed the structures detected with the geophysical methods.