Lara De Giorgi, Dora Francesca Barbolla, Chiara Torre, Giovanni Leucci
Instability assessment of Grotta della Poesia (Lecce, Italy)

The instability of the hypogean archaeological site named Grotta della Poesia, was studied by combing geological and geophysical methods. The inside geometry of fractures and the physical parameters of the surrounding and underground materials were the primary objectives of the geophysical survey. 2D seismic tomography and 2D electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) were combined to make a first diagnosis. First seismic data were acquired along one horizontal profile delimited by the line of the sources inside the cave and the receiver lying on the ground surface. ERT profile was overlapped with the seismic profile but the electrodes were placed on the ground surface. The interpretation of integrated geophysical data resulted in evaluating some of the rock mass parameters such as the rock quality designation, linear fracture density and fracture density.

Francesco Giuri, Angela Calia, Ivan Ferrari, Antonio Monte, Giovanni Quarta, Emilia Vasanelli
The Acait of Tricase (LE, Puglia, Italy): an agricultural cooperative for tobacco production. Surveys and conservation status

The tobacco industry in Puglia has been for about a century the main economic resource for the farmers and the dealers. The first processing with Levantine tobacco began in Terra d Otranto (the current provinces of Lecce, Brindisi and Taranto) between the late XIX and early XX centuries and were linked to the Agricultural Consortium of the Capo di Leuca territory (from 1938 Acait - Società Cooperativa Agricola Industriale del Capo di Leuca). Acait was the first cooperative agricultural consortium of the Terra d Otranto born in Tricase (Lecce, Italy) in December 1902. The Consortium began processing tobacco in 1904 and after a long and troubled history was put into liquidation in November 1995. In 2003 the municipality of Tricase acquired the historic factory, considered a monument of the industrial heritage of southern Italy, as a peculiar economic, social and human testimony of the territory. The paper illustrates the results of an ongoing study on the production site, which combines historical and archival research, an architectural survey campaign and a series of diagnostic analyses on the state of conservation, aimed at evaluating the main forms of alteration of the historic factory.

Lara De Giorgi, Dora Francesca Barbolla, Ivan Ferrari, Francesco Giuri, Ilaria Miccoli, Giuseppe Scardozzi, Chiara Torre, Giovanni Leucci
Geophysical investigation on the presumed Appian way

The Appian Way - Rome s gateway to the East - was Europe s first super highway and the wonder of its day. Built in 312 BC, it connected Rome with Capua (near Naples), running in a straight line for much of the way. Eventually, it stretched 644 km to Brindisi, from where Roman ships sailed to Greece and Egypt. With the aim of highlighting its route, geophysical surveys were carried out in some areas of southern Puglia. This paper deals with the results of an archaeogeophysical approach based on the comparative use of gradiometric and Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) measurements. The results of one investigated area are presented.

P. Bilio Markasioti, George Kritikakis, Antonios Vafidis, Nikos Papadopoulos
Seismic refraction tomography and multichannel analysis of surface waves for imaging offshore Cultural Heritage in very shallow water: Results from a synthetic study and real data

In archaeology, applied geophysics helps to discover new findings of our hiden cultural heritage. However, these methods have been particularly developed in terrestrial environments, leaving the shallow marine ones almost unexplored. This paper examines the effectiveness of Multichannel Analysis Surface Waves (MASW) and Seismic Refraction Tomography (SRT) οn imaging submerged and buried antiquities in a very shallow marine environment. For this purpose, synthetic seismic data sets were created to examine the optimum parameters for the most efficient visualization and interpretation of shallow underwater buried man made targets. The modeling results outlined that targets wider than 0.5m are reconstructed both with the SRT and the MASW methods, provided that they are buried close to the sea bottom. In addition, short spread of the receivers with the MASW provided the most satisfactory outcome concerning the location of the submerged targets. In general the modeling results are quite encouraging and together with the succesfull application of MASW method in real data can form the basis for establishing the applicability of these geophysical methods in mapping submerged archaeological structures in shallow water environments.

Chiara Tuccio, Francesco Armetta, Maria Luisa Saladino
Preliminary investigations of the action of nanostructured materials for the conservation of fresco paintings in high-humid environments

A preliminary study on the protective effect of nanostructured materials developed for the conservation of fresco paintings sited in high humidity environments is here reported. The study has been performed on mock-up samples prepared on the base of a non-invasive investigation performed on the frescos of the complex St. Mary of the Cave in Marsala (Trapani, Italy). The mock-up samples simulate both the stone support and the mortar preparation as well as the fresco painted with the same kind of pigments found in two of fresco paintings. Some nanostructured materials such as nano-sized fluorosilanes in water, nanosilica in water, nanolime and their mixtures have been tested evaluating the effect on the colour appearance and on surface properties.