High resolution integrated geophysical investigations to enhance the knowledge of Tusculum archaeological site (Roma, Italy)

Tusculum is one of the largest Roman archaeological site in the Alban Hills, located in the Latium region (Italy), about 25 km south-east far from Rome. This settlement was inhabited since pre-Roman times, up to the middle ages. The objective of the Tusculum Project is to characterise the site from archaeological and geoarchaeological point of views. With these aims a multimethodological geophysical surveys have been carried out in the time range 2016 - 2019 to locate the archaeological remains in different portions of the studied area and to reconstruct the orientation of underground aqueduct system. GPR and gradiometric surveys were carried out to investigate the archaeological remains, while ERT surveys, with different electrode arrays, were employed to find evidence of undiscovered parts of an underground aqueduct system. These results, together with geological studies and historic evidence, were used to try to understand how water was supplied to such a large, populated settlement.