GROUND PENETRATING RADAR PROSPECTIONS IN ROMANIA. MĂRIUȚA‐LA MOVILĂ NECROPOLIS, A CASE STUDY

Abstract

In the last decades, ground‐penetrating radar (GPR) has been successfully used in archaeological and forensic anthropological applications to locate relatively shallow features, even though the technique can also probe deeper into the ground. GPR is a non‐destructive method based on the propagation of electromagnetic waves in soil, rocks or other media. This prospection method has rarely been used previously in Romanian archaeology and never for a necropolis. GPR surveys of the Măriuța ‐ La Movilă necropolis (Călăraşi county, southeastern Romania) led to the identification of several new structures: a prehistoric pit belonging to the Kodjadermen‐Gumelnița‐Karanovo VI culture (Complex 1/2008), a grave from the IVth century A.D. (Complex 2/2009) and a modern burrowing pit (Complex 1/2009).