Geophysical Research for Revealing and Studying of Ancient Ruins in the Archaeological Site “Argamum”

In Romania, geophysical methods are normally used to estimate the distribution of cultural relics, before digging. Objects of archeological interest are usually located within a few meters of the surface. The geophysical studies have been carried out within the archeological site both in 2005 as well as in 2006. Geophysical works have been carried out using Geometrics equipment (prototonic magnetometers model G856) with a 0.1nT precision, which allowed the researchers to obtain highly detailed images of the local morphology of geomagnetic field and drawing of maps presenting the magnetic anomaly. The working technology has been chosen to enable to emphasize mainly abnormal effects produced by sources located at 0-5 m depths. On the south side of the late Roman fortification , outside the precincts wall, there have been found an artisanal area including a furnace for manufacturing building materials dated from the late Roman period,, as well as some Greek furnaces for manufacturing usual brick. The south area of the site has been studied within this research project using the magnetometrical method (Fig. 5). Geophysical studies will prove very useful for further archeological diggings, providing them a more clearly defined image on the substratum situation.