The Co & euml;by Neolithic cemetery, located in the commune of Tr & eacute;dion (Morbihan, France) and discovered in 1986, has been for several years the subject of a research programme focused on studying the various megalithic structures present. The spatial distribution of these remains highlights an unusual occupation of the territory, organized according to each architectural type from the Neolithic period to the Bronze Age. Among these numerous monuments, several groups of long barrows of significant shape and size reveal unusual anomalies that raise questions about the functionality and origin of these structures, which are made of silt and a few standing stones. Electrical surveys have recently been carried out on two of them in an attempt to answer our questions about the internal structure of these monuments. The results point to structures that could be similar to Passy-type constructions covering rough and anthropomorphic standing stones and other unidentified structures.
ABSTRACT This study develops and evaluates a reproducible archaeological prospectivity workflow for data‐scarce tropical landscapes by integrating restricted legacy archaeological documentation with openly accessible environmental geospatial datasets. The Cuyes River Valley in southern Ecuador, located on the eastern‐Andean foothills where montane environments descend toward the Upper Amazon basin, provides the test case. Archaeological reports produced in 2009–2010 were converted into a structured inventory of 78 terrace records from Espíritu Playa, San Miguel de Cuyes and Nueva Zaruma. Terrace morphometry was analysed using area, height, length–width ratio and elevation, whereas K ‐means clustering identified recurrent forms. A presence–background random forest model combined known terrace locations with Copernicus DEM‐derived elevation, slope and roughness and WorldClim temperature and precipitation covariates. Spatial cross‐validation yielded a mean ROC‐AUC of 0.753 and mean average precision of 0.604, indicating useful but spatially variable ranking performance. Annual precipitation, elevation and annual mean temperature were the strongest model predictors. The results distinguish higher, cooler and drier upper valley systems from a lower, warmer and wetter Nueva Zaruma context, whereas morphometric clustering separates moderate upper valley terraces, large construction units, lower valley compact terraces and small elongated features. Exact archaeological coordinates were withheld and public outputs spatially generalized. Beyond the case study, the workflow demonstrates how legacy archaeological records can be transformed into reproducible, ethically constrained prospectivity products for survey prioritization and heritage management where field data and high‐resolution remote sensing remain limited.
ABSTRACT In karst terrains underlain by lateritic cover, the inherent resistivity ambiguity between natural cavities, water‐bearing conduits and man‐made tomb spaces poses a fundamental challenge to noninvasive archaeological prospection. This study employed two‐dimensional electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) with a Wenner‐α array to investigate an ancient Ming‐dynasty tomb in the karst terrain of Guilin, China. Three parallel survey lines were acquired and processed using robust 2D inversion in RES2DINV. The results reveal a diagnostic resistivity signature for looting disturbance: paired ultrahigh‐resistivity anomalies (air‐filled voids) overlying low‐resistivity anomalies (water‐saturated clay infill), consistently observed across all three profiles. The brick‐and‐stone masonry tomb chamber, located at approximately 3‐m depth, produced continuous high‐resistivity anomalies distinguishable from adjacent gravel fills and rammed‐earth retaining walls. Natural groundwater‐bearing karst conduits were identified as extensive deep low‐resistivity zones, differentiated from anthropogenic structures by their lateral continuity and absence of geometric boundaries. Field excavation confirmed the ERT interpretations: two looting cavities, a well‐preserved single‐chamber tomb structure, and the absence of internal water accumulation all matched the geophysical model. By resolving the ambiguity between anthropogenic structures and karst features and verifying interpretations through excavation, this study establishes 2D ERT as a reliable noninvasive tool for karst archaeological prospection.
The Roman city of Doclea is a key archaeological site of Montenegro, valued for its impressive remains and its role in the nation's cultural identity within European and the Mediterranean history. Doclea was the second-largest city in the province of Roman Dalmatia, a municipium created in the first century ad and named after the Illyrian tribe Docleati. Since 2017, a multidisciplinary research project has been coordinating the study and enhancement of the city and its territory. The project was the result of an international agreement between the National Research Council of Italy, the Ministry of Science and the Ministry of Culture of Montenegro. The project team implemented multidisciplinary approach, through the application of different technologies and methodologies (satellite, aerial and drone images analysis and geophysical prospections with ground penetrating radar) integrated with historical approaches (archival research, epigraphic and ancient literature review), archaeological surveys and architectonic reconstructions. The Italian-Montenegrin team is striving not only to acquire a better understanding of the city but also for the construction of a credible enhancement project, able to improve the knowledge and the 'use' of the site by the local community and tourists. The collected data, in fact, are fully integrated into an innovative enhancement project, which leaves space for new development strategies. The research considers both the visible ruins and those hypothesized through geophysical investigation and remote sensing, anticipating future advances in our knowledge through the opening of new excavation areas.
