Instability assessment of "Grotta della Poesia" (Lecce, Italy)

The instability of the hypogean archaeological site named "Grotta della Poesia", was studied by combing geological and geophysical methods. The inside geometry of fractures and the physical parameters of the surrounding and underground materials were the primary objectives of the geophysical survey. 2D seismic tomography and 2D electrical resistivity tomogra phy (ERT) were combined to make a first diagnosis. F irst seismic data were acquired along one horizontal profile delimited by the line of the sources inside the cave and the receiver lying on the ground surface. ERT profile was overlapped with the seismic profile but the electrodes were placed on the ground surface. The interpretation of integrated geophysical data resulted in evaluating some of the rock mass parameters such as the rock quality designation, linear fracture density and fracture density