Ground Penetrating Radar survey at the Basilica of San Paolo fuori le mura (Roma, Italy)

This paper shows the results of a new archaeogeophysics investigation at the Basilica of San Paolo fuori le mura (Roma) carried out thanks to a collaboration between Dartmouth College (USA), the Institute of History and Theory of Art and Architecture of the Università della Svizzera Italiana, the Institute of Heritage Sciences of the CNR of Rome and the Governatorato of Vatican City. The new research includes high-resolution Ground Penetrating Radar surveys and bibliographic and archival analyses, still in progress, concerning the history of the development of building and its liturgical furnishings from the fourth century through modern times. The main purpose of this new study is to understand the evolution of the Basilica's core, the area around the tomb of St. Paul, which across the centuries attracted attention from pilgrims, popes, and other potentates. The GPR profiles were processed with the aim to obtain a 2D time-slices images and 3D visualization (isosurface) of all reflections in the ground. The results obtained from the geophysical surveys were interpreted together with the archaeologists and historians to define the meaning of the individuated structures and to enhance the knowledge of this historical building.