Professor Michael "Bodhi" Rogers and physics students Christopher Hastings, Kevin Hurley, and Charlie Simkin are heading overseas to conduct archaeological geophysical surveys at three archaeology sites. The projects are proof of concept surveys to demonstrate that archaeological geophysical instruments can image subsurface features related to ancient cities.
If successful, the team expects to see the location of city walls and building foundations. They are working with Professor Sturt Manning of Cornell's classics department at a late-Bronze Age village site in Cyprus. The work in Sicily is with Professor Kim Bowes, also of Cornell's classics department, at a Roman-era city, and the work in Azerbaijan is at an Iron Age hilltop fort with Professor Lauren Ristvet of the University of Pennsylvania.
Their work this summer will be followed by several grant proposal submissions to the National Science Foundation and the National Geographic Society. At these sites, they anticipate several years' worth of work that will further archaeological geophysical methods and expand our understanding of how these cities interacted with local political and religious centers.
https://www.ithaca.edu/intercom/article.php/20080425094842790