Technology and archaeology: the contribution of Italferr

The history of the late antique religious landscape is being rewritten, between the first and third miles of the Via Appia, in the heart of suburban Rome, thanks to an ambitious research project led by Italferr and funded by the PRIN 2022 NRRP project.

Sponsored by the Universities of Rome Tor Vergata and Tuscia in Viterbo, in partnership with the Pontifical Institute of Christian Archaeology, the project “Integrated methodologies for the understanding and valorisation of the religious landscape of the Via Appia in the suburbs of Rome (4th-7th centuries)” has actively involved the specialist archaeology and cartography departments of Italferr, a Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane Group company, within the framework of a virtuous synergic partnership between the world of academic research and the technical and scientific expertise developed at FS.

The goal of combining advanced engineering and cultural heritage protection was ambitious from the outset, concerning the reconstruction of the complex topography of the area around the Catacombs of San Callisto, to restore the Christian landscape that existed between Antiquity and the Middle Ages, especially with regard to the road system and the emergence of religious structures, optimising the archaeological research work conducted in recent centuries and the discoveries brought to light so that it can be made available to the general public.

The use of innovative and non-invasive technologies has been fundamental to achieve this aim, allowing vast areas to be investigated and buried structures to be identified without excavating the sites concerned.

Italferr’s role in this project has been to provide its technological know-how to conduct non-invasive, remote and proximal sensing surveys over an area of approximately 20 hectares, integrating high-resolution Lidar, thermal and multispectral imaging with geophysical surveys (magnetometry and ground-penetrating radar), in collaboration with ATS Archeo Tech & Survey s.r.l. and IDS GeoRadar S.r.l..

The contribution of Italferr's “Archaeology Department” was fundamental, for the purpose of designing the project GIS, collecting and integrating historical, aerial photogrammetric, excavation and archive data, interpreting the geophysical data acquired and designing the in situ tests.

During the activities carried out in the Via Appia Park, Italferr's Archaeology Department, working with specialised teams, had the opportunity to test a new algorithm for processing geophysical data, currently in the patenting phase, allowing a more sophisticated and layered interpretation of the detected anomalies.

This work is part of a process of building up internal expertise in the field of non-invasive and hi-tech investigations, thanks to which Italferr is becoming an increasingly qualified player in the sectors of preventive archaeology and the research and enhancement of cultural, artistic and museum heritage.

The combined analysis of data and technological surveys has validated the responses of the various sensors by comparing them with already known buried structures, refining the indirect methods and guiding the planning of excavation tests, surveys and investigations with greater precision.

The results have been extraordinary. The Vatican daily L'Osservatore Romano has reported on how the investigations carried out at the site of the geophysical anomalies has led to the discovery of a hitherto unknown early Christian “circus” basilica, dating back to the first half of the 4th century, so called because modelled on Roman circuses, with the side aisles encircling the central nave, like the track of a circus around the central spina.

The structure can probably be identified with the basilica of Saints Mark and Marcellian, in which the two martyrs were laid to rest beneath a large altar, and which is located directly opposite the similar basilica of Pope Mark, discovered in 1991 during excavations conducted by the Pontifical Institute of Christian Archaeology.

These “twin” basilicas share the same orientation and are aligned along a road that connected the Via Appia and the Via Ardeatina. Based on their size and ground plan, they are thought to belong to the “first generation” of “circus” basilicas, erected during the reign of emperor Constantine.

This recent discovery is part of a research project launched in the 1990s by the Pontifical Institute of Christian Archaeology, in collaboration with the University of Rome Tor Vergata, which had brought to light the basilica of Pope Mark and numerous other funerary complexes. The current PRIN project continues this research, expanding its scope through the use of advanced technologies and an integrated view of the archaeological landscape.

Ultimately, the project represents a model of advanced preventive and digital archaeology, in which technology supports and complements research, as well as guiding it towards making new discoveries, contributing to the valorisation of a historical and deeply spiritual heritage.