Study of Etruscan Tombs Using a Multidisciplinary Approach: Case of Campana Tomb

A multidisciplinary approach was used for the study of an important Etruscan tomb located in Veii, Italy. It included the application of several noncontact and/or noninvasive technologies and methods with the aim of investigating two different aspects of the site's conservation: the structural stability and the preservation of the wall paintings. After documenting the 3D geometry of the site by laser scanning, some ambient vibration recordings were analyzed, and the innovative technique of magnified motion analysis (MMA) was applied to evaluate the structural conditions of the tomb. In particular, these analyses have been conducted to identify the structural behavior of the walls and ceiling supporting the paintings. Frequency response function (FRF) and horizontal-vertical spectral ratios (HVSR) were calculated to estimate the fundamental frequencies. MMA were applied for Image processing, revealing small motions of points of walls and ceiling that may indicate exfoliation and detachment phenomena. The wall paintings were investigated through hypercolorimetric multispectral imaging (HMI). Integrating the results of the two technologies, a valuable contribution to the documentation and the diagnosis of the paintings was provided. In particular, the innovative HMI technique was able to extract and compare the spectral reflectance of pigments against a specialized spectral database of pigments' spectral signatures. Besides, it was very effective in enhancing the readability of very ruined paintings, almost invisible to the naked eyes.