GPR and ERT surveys in the Giardino dell’Annunziata in Cammarata (Sicily)

Abstract

A recovery project has recently involved a garden sited in Cammarata (Southern Sicily), known as "Giardino dell'Annunziata" adjacent to the church of the same name (Chiesa dell'Annunziata). In this area, according to the scarce historical sources, there was a Benedictine convent, probably demolished in the eighteenth century. As a diagnostical support some geophysical surveys were carried out in the garden. A 3D geoelectric survey and 36 Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) profiles were carried out which made it possible to reconstruct the corresponding 3D models of the subsoil. A large resistive anomaly has been detected, which has no match in the 3D GPR model showing only minor surface anomalies. The anomalous area can be due to an original flow route of the river, but it cannot be excluded that it is caused by an artificial channel or even underground environments, subsequently filled with landfill material. Archaeological excavations are planned to better clarify the nature of the anomaly.