Combined high-resolution magnetics and GPR surveys of the Roman town of Flavia Solva

Abstract

High-resolution magnetics and ground-penetrating radar (GPR) prospecting methods are both employed over large areas (125 000 and 45 000 m 2 ) at the Roman town of Flavia Solvain Austria. High-resolution magnetics using a multisensor caesium gradiometer were used in a survey in a raster of 0.5 x 0.125 m. GPR measurements using a PulseEKKO 1000 device applying 450 and 900 MHz antennae were carried out in a raster of 0.5 x 0.05 m. The collected data are evaluated and visualized in grey scale, using the self-developed software, APMAG and APRADAR . In addition, the small prospected areas are combined automatically into one coherent image and transformed into global coordinate system (georeferencing) for archaeological interpretation in the Geographical Information System (GIS). The magnetic prospecting shows very clearly the extent of the Roman town of Flavia Solva. The Roman streets and walls appear in the magnetics as negative anomalies (black). The positive magnetic anomalies could be due to brick walls, which did not show up as structures in the GPR. On the other hand, GPR provides a lot of detailed three-dimensional information about the archaeological structures.

Publication
Near Surface Geophysics