The main objective of this phd project is to obtain new data useful for the reconstruction of the empty spaces (or off-sites)1 of medieval landscapes, through the use of new multispectral and thermal sensors applied to commercial drones.
Particularly, the research aims to test different RPASs, for the identification of particular anomalies in the soil (cropmark, soilmark and micro-relief2) that indicate the presence of archaeological elements not visible on the surface. The areas on which the analyzes will focus will be those which, at the level of territorial research, are identified in the "local scale" 3. The area that is located between the micro scale (aimed at intra-site analysis) and the macro scale (corresponding to large areas such as entire regions or national states). An area that today appears mainly represented by large empty spaces between a few sites or punctual evidence, while It should have been characterized by agricultural plots, quarries, mines, pastures, paleoalvei, administrative boundaries, roads, etc.
The research therefore has the twofold objective of testing a new method of non-invasive archaeological investigation and of reconstructing the anthropic fabric of the medieval suburban landscape.
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1 Campana S., 2017, Emptyscapes: filling an ‘empty’ Mediterranean landscape at Rusellae, Italy, Antiquity, Vol: 91, Issue: 359, p. 1227
2 Piccarreta F., Ceraudo G., 2002, Manuale di aerofotografia archeologica. Metodologia, tecniche e applicazione, Bari, pp.99-128
3 Campana S., 2009, Archeologia dei Paesaggi e Remote Sensing, in Giorgi E.,(a cura di), Groma 2. In profondità senza scavare, Bologna. p. 149
