For the first time, a group of archaeologists managed to map a Roman city without carrying out any excavations. The feat was made possible thanks to the use of an advanced "ground penetration radar" (or Ground Penetrating Radar, abbreviated to GPR ), an instrument that sends radar waves into the ground, receiving the "bounce" due to the structures hidden in the subsoil.
Towing the tools GPR with a quad, the group of researchers headed by the University of Cambridge and at the University of Ghent managed to survey 30.5 hectares by sending radar waves every 12.5 centimeters (a very high resolution). The subsoil has been studied at different depths, in order to reconstruct how the city has evolved over hundreds of years. The place of the discovery is located near Rome, near the city of Falerii Novi. The research was published in ' Antiquity ’.
Falerii Novi it is located about 50 km north of Rome .
It was first occupied in 241 BC. and survived until 700 AD, when it was largely abandoned.
Thanks to the use of GPR it was possible to understand what happened after that period. For example, it turned out that some large blocks of the monuments were removed from the city. The study also made it possible to understand that the construction of the city did not follow the general rules of the cities of Ancient Rome which have so far been studied in detail.
Archaeologists have discovered the presence of a thermal complex , a vast network of water pipes of the city, a market, a temple and a monument whose structure is different from any other previously observed.
The temple, the market building and the spa complex are much more architecturally elaborate than one would expect for a small town. Among the buildings considered "anomalous" there is one very large with a rectangular shape that is connected to the aqueduct through a series of water pipes. The pipes run under the blocks and not, as one would expect, along the streets. Early research suggests that the building was an outdoor swimming pool, included in a large public bathing complex.
Near the northern gate of the city, a couple of large structures were found, one in front of the other, inside a large portico. No such examples are known. Archaeologists, however, believe that the structures were part of an impressive public monument, helping to create a sacred environment on the edge of the city.
DOWNLOAD THE RESULTS PDF