Ground penetrating radar investigation of Gönen Tumulus in Isparta/Turkey

Prior to 1940s, excavation was the only method for locating buried archaeological studies. By the middle 1950s, along with archaeological searches, geophysical methods are used very often. Geophysical methods have proven to be very useful to archaeologists in order to detect, map and study the characteristics of different types of objects and structure in the subsurface. Among these methods, ground-penetrating radar (GPR) is particularly useful, because this active electromagnetic technique is able to detect the presence of buried objects having different dielectric properties with respect to the surrounding material.
   Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) is a method that is able to provide very high resolution, three-dimension information. It is a fast and effective electromagnetic (EM) method. It is based on the propagation and reflection of EM waves, it is sensitive to variations of the EM parameters in the subsoil, specially the dielectric constant and the electric conductivity. Despite its relatively low penetration depth (specially with high-frequency antennae and in moderately conductivity environments), the GPR resolution capability (also depending on frequency and soil properties) is far greater than obtained by other geophysical methods. This makes the technique suitable for high-resolution shallow studies such as archaeological applications and shallow stratigraphy mapping.
   The study primarily aims at providing adequate imaging resolution of large and prominent targets of archaeological interest, such as tumuli, at all depth levels. We implemented an integrated ground-penetrating radar (GPR) technique to perform highresolution imaging and characterization of tumuli (burial mounds).
   The ancient city of Konane (Roman Conana) is located in the area around the modern village of Gönen, which lies 24 km north of Isparta in southwest Turkey. In antiquity this area was known as Pisidia. The high peaks of the Barla and Tınaz Mountains frame the valley to the north and gently descend through alluvial fans into the plain of Gönen. While many travelers have visited this area in search of ancient material, none has ever undertaken a systematic survey using the most advanced methods.
   In this study in particular aims to combine an archaeological survey and the study of inscriptions with modern methods such as geophysical measurements and topographical mapping. The aim of the geophysical research at the site in Gönen (Isparta/Turkey) was to recognize the shallow soil layers and to determine and outline the existence of possible archaeological objects.
   Preliminary finds suggest that the city center of Konane in the Hellenistic period may have actually been located at Kale Tepe, and only in the later Roman phase did the city move southeast, which is now under the modern town of Gonen. The preliminary archaeological data also present distinctsigns of expansion in Konane’s settlement during Late Antiquity. The occupation and possibly later fortification of the Akyokuş Tepe, in conjunction with the growth of rural settlement in the western sector of the valley, invite hypotheses over the new economic outlook and demographic expansion in the region.