Integrated GPR and archaeological investigations to study the site of Aquinum (Frosinone Italy)

To enhance the knowledge finalised to the location and conservation of the unknown buried structures below the actual studied levels, in the territory of the Ancient Aquinum (Frosinone, Italy), an integrated archaeological and ground remote sensing study has been developed during 2008–2009 and it is still in progress. Analysis of the historical and oblique aerial photographs, combined with topographical and archaeological field-walking surveys, allowed the preliminary interpretation of the main town-planning of Aquinum. To verify this preliminary interpretation an extensive geophysical surveys, employing Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) method, has been made during 2008–2009. The obtained results indicate the good matching between the interpretation of aerial photographs and GPR images at different depths. The location, depth and size of the individuated archaeological structures were effectively estimated. Archaeological excavations made during the summer 2009, in a southern portion of the investigated area, have confirmed the results obtained with GPR method.