You can't make an omelette without breaking some eggs: in which way can non-destructive and destructive techniques coexist?

Abstract

In the present paper we demonstrate the possibility to profitably integrate non-destructive techniques (NDT) and minimally invasive approach in several landscape archaeology research projects conducted in Italy. These projects integrate remote-sensing techniques, geophysics (in particular the ground-penetrating radar - GPR - technique), field-walking, and, geoarchaeological excavations both on macro- (km) and mesoscale (m). As well known, if the traditional destructive tools applied to archaeology generally produce a reconstruction of the ancient past in an irreversible way, the results of NDT instruments seem to go in the opposite direction by giving geo-archaeological information in a quick and non-destructive way, but not always clear. Tn this paper we will show the results especially from GPR surveys, because, in spite of other NDT approaches, GPR has resulted the most efficient one due to its rapidity, accuracy, and resolution. Nevertheless, this work demonstrates that, sometimes it is possible to have lack of information to interpret the correct archaeological landscape evolution just based on remote sensing data. A multidisciplinary approach, starting from a NDT data at a macro-scale till a minimally invasive tests (coring, pits, etc.) at meso-scale, has the potential to clarify preliminary assumptions, and give the right direction to the research project.