This archive report was first published on 9 June 2020.
Published on June 9, 2020, researchers have made a groundbreaking discovery in the Tiber River valley, north of Rome, using a quad bike and a radar gun.
Ground penetrating radars and satellite navigation were used to create sophisticated 3-D images of the once-lost town, Falerii Novi, without overturning a single stone.
The results, published in the journal Antiquity, shed light on aspects of Roman architecture and urban design about which relatively little was known.
Professor Martin Millett, one of the authors of the study, told AFP, "It just gives you a fantastically high-resolution picture of what's [below the surface],"
The ancient city, a stone's throw from modern-day Rome, has been buried underground for around 13 centuries.
The 3-D images obtained show a number of temples, public administration buildings, and a bath complex, as well as a columned passageway thought to be a public monument.
The GPR mapping also revealed a complex system of water pipes not too different from those in modern cities.
"You can see there's a water supply system that must have been laid out very early in the development of the city," he said.
Ground penetrating radar technology could help researchers map a number of additional ancient cities, without having to dig up fields or disturb urban structures built on top of them.
