Investigating spaceborne remote sensing techniques for buried nuraghi structures identification: the nuraghe nanni arru' case study

The present work aims to define a methodology for archaeological sites investigation through the pervasive use of satellite remote sensing technologies. Spaceborne sensing techniques have been used by archeologists for prospecting landscapes to characterise site changes and detecting features of interest. Our approach is based on the so-called archeological proxy indicators where we investigate the use of satellite remote sensing for an initial identification of potential areas of interest and then other in-situ techniques for data comparison and validation to eventually define the best approach to be used for buried nuraghi archeological remains. For this study, the nuraghe Nanni Arru located in south Sardinia has been selected. It is one of the most important finds in recent times as it partially highlights towers, rooms and wall traces of a surrounding village. These characteristics confirm the complexity of the monument which represents an ideal use case for the definition of an innovative methodological model to be replicated in the whole region.