Mapping Tuscan cultural heritage. Methods, leading-edge technologies, communication and results

The Department of Archaeology at University of Siena has been engaged for several decades in many Archaeological Mapping Projects in Tuscany collecting a data base upward of 18000 evidences. Our approach has been focused in the testing of new methodologies, new approaches and new instruments for construction of the archaeological record. Tuscan land-scapes are characterized by a low levels of visibility that directed us towards the integration of remote sensing techniques. In particular we are working on a systematic program of aerial sur-vey, on the analysis of Ikonos-2 and QuickBird-2 satellite imagery, on digital photogrammetry and LiDAR data. On the ground infra-site analysis has been improved by applying large scale magnetic, ERT and GPR survey; other gains have come from the systematic use of differential GPS and PDA devices. Along with the development of new technologies we have continued the study of historical aerial photographs and the use of field-walking survey, both of which still constitute, in our opinion, undeniably valuable sources for the archaeological study of ancient landscapes.