Team

Dr Salvatore Piro

Dr. Salvatore Piro is Associated Senior Researcher and Head of the Geophysical Team at the Institute of Heritage’s Sciences ISPC of CNR 

Starting from the previous Institute of Technologies Applied to Cultural Heritage (ITABC CNR), his activity has been characterised by the developing of the acquisition, elaboration and interpretation techniques for Archaeological Prospection employing Magnetic, Geoelectric and Ground Penetrating Radar methods.

From 2002 to 2008 he was Professor of Geophysics for Archaeology in the Archaeological Department and from 2012 to 2019 he was Professor of Applied Geophysics in the Earth Science Department of the University La Sapienza (Rome, Italy). His research interest include acquisition and processing of integrated geophysical methods for near surface investigations. From 2006 till now he has participated to the Lateran Project and now to the Rome Transformed Project where he is part of the team.

He is a member of SEG, EAGE, Near Surface Geophysics, EGU, EEGS and ISAP societies. He is Associate Editor of Near Surface Geophysics and Archaeological Prospection Journals.

From September 2003 to September 2007 was elected member of Management Committee of ISAP – International Society for Archaeological Prospection.

From 2003 he is member of the Editorial Board of  Near Surface Geophysics journal E.A.G.E. (ISSN: 1569-4445); he is Associate Editor for Georadar, (www.nearsurfacegeophysics.org), from 2001 he is member of the Editorial Board of the European Journal of Environmental and Engineering Geophysics; from 2003 he is member of the Editorial Board of the Near Surface Geophysics of E.A.G.E. (www.nearsurfacegeophysics.org).

From 1998 he is Associate Editor of Archaeological Prospection (Wiley - BlackWell), ISSN: 1075-2196. (www.interscience.wiley.com/journal/arp).

Institutional profile

Papers by Salvatore on geophysical survey in the Lateran district include:

  • Piro S., Haynes I., Liverani P., Zamuner D., 2020. Ground Penetrating Radar Survey in the Saint John Lateran Basilica. In “The Basilica of Saint John Lateran to 1600”, Ed.s Bosman L., Haynes I.P., Liverani P. Cambridge University Press (London, UK), pp. 52-70, ISBN: 978-1-108-83976-1; DOI: 10.1017/9781108885096.
  • S. Piro, I. Haynes, P. Liverani and D. Zamuner, 2017. GPR investigation to map the subsoil of the St. John Lateran Basilica (Rome, Italy). Bollettino di Geofisica Teorica ed Applicata, Vol. 58, n. 3, pp 431-444, DOI 10.4430/bgta0200.
  • Piro S., Zamuner D., 2016. Investigating the urban archaeological sites using Ground Penetrating Radar. The cases of Palatino Hill and St John Lateran Basilica (Roma, Italy). Acta IMEKO, Vol. 5, issue 2, pp 80-85. ISSN: 2221-870X. DOI: 10.21014/acta imeko/v5i2.234 .
  • Haynes I., Liverani P., Piro S., Spinola G., 2013. The Lateran Project: interim report on the July 2012 and January 2013 seasons (Rome). Papers of the British School at Rome, Volume 81, pp 360-363, doi: 10.1017/S0068246213000184.
  • Haynes I., Liverani P., Piro S. and Zamuner D., 2013. Integrated Archaeological and Geophysical investigations to study the area of S. Giovanni in Laterano basilica (Rome, Italy). Proceedings of 10th International Conference on Archaeological Prospection, pp 203-205, ISBN: 978-3-7001-7459-2.

Other papers by Salvatore that may be relevant to the project methodologies include:

  • Persico R., Piro S., Linford N., 2018. Innovation in Near Surface Geophysics. Instrumentation, application and data processing methods. Elsevier (Ed.), Amsterdam (Netherlands), ISBN: 978-0-12-812429-1, pp.1-505.
  • Piro S., Zamuner D., 2016. Le pendici nord-orientali del Palatino a Roma. Un caso di indagini archeogeofisiche in aree urbane. In “Scavare, documentare, conservare. Viaggio nella ricerca archeologica del CNR.”, (a cura di Caravale A.), pp 206-211. ISBN 9788880801955.
  • Arato A., Piro S., Sambuelli L., 2015. 3D inversion of ERT data on an archaeological site using GPR reflection and 3D inverted magnetic data as a priori information. Near Surface Geophysics, Vol. 13, issue 6, 545-556. DOI: 10.3997/1873-0604.2015046
  • Piro S., Negri S., Quarta T.A.M., Pipan M., Forte E., Ciminale M., Cardarelli E., Capizzi P., Sambuelli L., 2015. Geophysics and Cultural Heritage: a living field of research for Italian Geophysicists. First Break, Vol. 33, issue 8.
  • Drahor M.G., Tsokas G.N., Piro S., Trink I., 2015. Near Surface Geophysics Special Topic "Integrated Geophysical Investigations for Archaeology". Vol. 13, issue 6, 519-521. ISSN: 1873-0604. DOI: 10.3997/1873-06-04.2015049.
  • Goodman D., Piro S., 2013. GPR Remote sensing in Archaeology. Springer (Ed), ISBN 978-3-642-31856-6, ISBN 978-3-642-31857-3 (eBook), DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-31857-3. Springer, Berlin, (Germany).
  • Novo A. (1), Leckebusch J. (2), Goodman D. (3), Morelli G. (4), Piro S. (5), Catanzariti G., 2013. Advances in GPR Imaging with Multi-channel Radar Systems. Journal of Surveying and Mapping Engineering (JSME), V. 1, n. 1, pp 1-6.
  • Piro S., Campana S., 2012. GPR investigation in different archaeological sites in Tuscany (Italy). Analysis and comparison of the obtained results. Near Surface Geophysics, 2012, 10, pp. 47-56,  doi:10.3997/1873-0604.2011047.
  • Piro S., Ceraudo G., Zamuner D., 2011. Integrated geophysical and archaeological investigations of Aquinum in Frosinone, Italy. Archaeological Prospection, 18: 127-138. DOI: 10.1002/arp409.
  • Piro S., Gabrielli R., 2009. Multimethodological approach to investigate chamber tombs in the Sabine Necropolis at Colle del Forno (CNR, Rome, Italy). Archaeological Prospection, Vol. 16, pp 1-14.
  • Campana S., Dabas M., Marasco L., Piro S., Zamuner D., 2009. Integration of remote sensing, geophysical surveys and archaeological excavation for the study of a medieval mound (Tuscany-Italy). Archaeological Prospection, Vol. 16, 1-20.
  • Cardarelli E., Fischanger F., Piro S., 2008. Integrated geophysical survey to detect buried structures for archaeological prospecting. A case-history at Sabine Necropolis (Rome, Italy). Near Surface Geophysics journal (EAGE), Vol. 6, n. 1, 15-20.