Urbes Revelantur. New Remote and Proximal Sensing investigations in the abandoned city of Suasa (Marche, Italy)

This paper presents the latest non-invasive investigations at the Roman municipium of Suasa (Marche, Italy), highlighting the integration of legacy data - such as historical aerial imagery and early geophysical surveys - with newly acquired UAV-LiDAR, multispectral imaging (VIS, RGB, IRT), and targeted geophysical datasets. Conducted in 2024 in collaboration with the Institute of Heritage Science (CNR-ISPC), the study demonstrates how a multi-temporal and multi-sensor approach has significantly refined the interpretation of Suasa’s urban layout. Despite the site's clay-rich soils, which hinder standard prospection techniques like GPR and magnetometry, aerial photography has consistently revealed meaningful archaeological features. This research explains the anomaly by linking it to specific local environmental and cultivation practices that enhance vegetation mark visibility. The integration of historical and recent datasets, including georeferenced oblique imagery, has enabled the creation of a high-resolution Digital Terrain Model (DTM) and improved the spatial correlation of geophysical anomalies. The results clarify critical aspects of the ancient city's layout, including debated features such as defensive walls, and offer a replicable methodology for similarly complex sites. The study emphasizes the value of adaptive, context-sensitive approaches in archaeological prospection and heritage documentation.