GEOMATICS ADVANCED TESTINGS FLANKING ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH. A NOTEWORTHY AREA IN THE NORTHERN NECROPOLIS OF HIERAPOLIS OF FRIGIA (TK)

The paper relates the studies aimed at experimenting with aerial and terrestrial methods of rapid mapping survey applied in an archaeological context, and at evaluating the effectiveness of their results in relation to the purposes of archaeological researches. Different UAV (Unmanned aerial vehicle) and 360° camera data acquisition and processing strategies are reported and discussed. The integration and fusion approaches have been investigated taking advantages of coregistration approaches. Archaeologists from the University of Pisa have investigated areas of the northern necropolis at Hierapolis since 2017, exploring the arrangement and use of Roman sarcophagi in their architectural context. Thanks to a full review of the archaeological and epigraphic evidence from Tomb 159c, and thanks to the high detailed 3D models and high-resolution orthophotos derived with geomatics techniques, it has been possible to reconstruct patterns and changes in ownership, use, and movement in a significant section of the necropolis across three centuries.