FIELD WORK MONITORING AND HERITAGE DOCUMENTATION FOR THE CONSERVATION PROJECT. THE “FORO EMILIANO” IN TERRACINA (ITALY)

Abstract

The area of the “Foro Emiliano”, the current “Piazza del Municipio” in the coastal town of Terracina in southern Latium, consists of an articulated group of building belonging to different historical moments. On the roman pavement of the forensic square stand out: a Roman theatre, the urban cathedral, medieval houses, a roman temple and recent buildings dating from the first half of the 20th century. Thanks to recent funding the “Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio per le province di Frosinone, Latina e Rieti” has undertaken the demolition of some modern houses insisting on the theatre’s porticus post scaenam and began an excavation of the entirely preserved cavea of the Roman theatre building. These interventions of urban archaeology were taken as an opportunity to plan an impressive 3D survey of the historic center, aiming: on one side at monitoring demolition and excavation work, offering a cartographic base for valorization projects, and on the other at the investigation of a vast monumental area. This paper analyses in detail the phases of integration, alignment, filtering and post processing of the acquired data, showing with evidence how the integration of active and passive sensors is the best approach in similar scenario.