Reading ancient cities. The contribution of the non-invasive techniques

During the last few years the University of Bologna has gained valuable experience in the field of archaeological impact assessment and development-led archaeology. This has been achieved within projects focused on the study of the phenomenon of cities and urban life in antiquity, which represents one of the long-standing lines of research within the Department of History and Cultures. The present paper provides an overview of some key aspects of the research carried out by the Bologna team, focusing in particular on the contribution of geophysics and aerial remote sensing in the archaeological and historical reconstruction of ancient urban landscapes. The cases presented here relate to urban sites in northern and central Italy, respectively in Emilia Romagna and Marche regions. The chosen towns differ significantly from one another in their history, archaeological background and unresolved issues as well as in their geological setting and soil properties. They are the Etruscan town of Kainua (Marzabotto), the Roman municipia of Suasa and Ostra, the Roman colonies of Sena Gallica (Senigallia) and Asculum (Ascoli Piceno), and the late Roman town of Classe, south of Ravenna. In all of these cases the research frameworks have in common the definition and implementation of a specific project design, and the resulting experience strongly underlines the importance of this programmatic method. In all instances the University has worked in close cooperation with the local Superintendencies and Municipalities, using a holistic approach that takes into account all aspects of the landscape, including the needs of modern development and instances of preservation and enhancement of the archaeological heritage. After ten years of practice in applied geophysics and aerial remote sensing on these and other important projects, it is now time to present some reflections on the role of non-invasive archaeology in approaching the challenges involved in the investigation of formerly-urban sites, in particular the potentiality of non-destructive prospection methods in the interpretation and understanding of the sites in terms of their size, overall layout, urban structure and interconnection with suburban areas in the context of their natural setting and broader landscape.