Geophysical investigation of the southwestern city limit of ancient Selinous (Sicily, Italy)

The undisturbed state of the archaeological site of Selinous provides a unique opportunity to examine urban life in the ancient Greek world. With the tools provided by geophysics this research can be carried out non-destructive. Beginning with the early 2000s a magnetic gradiometry campaign comprehensively presented the city’s street layout. While the eastern city limit is visible by the city wall in the data, this is not the case for the west, where the signal fades away at the edge of the developed area. The objective of this study therefore is to investigate the city limit in the south-west. With a focus on the transition zone between the river Modione and the urban area. A direct target is to present the course of the western city wall. Through joint evaluation of magnetic gradiometry measurements, electromagnetic induction (EMI) prospection and electric resistivity tomography (ERT), the course of the western wall was traced for 200 m. The data presents the complete western main city gate, as well as a potential Roman structure on top of the Greek remnants. The archaeological relevant layers in the southern Modione valley were investigated by combining inverted EMI profiles with sediment cores. This resulted in the hypothesis that parts of the south-western cityscape were built upon land reclaimed of a former river meander.