Muographic Study of the Palazzone Necropolis (Perugia-Italy)

Keywords: muon radiography, archaeology, cosmic rays

Abstract

The Palazzone Necropolis, located southeast of the hill of Perugia (Italy), is an Etruscan archaeological site
open to the public, and well-known thanks to the numerous finds and its (∼)200 tombs from the Hellenistic
age and 5 from the Archaic period. The most important tomb is represented by the Volumni Hypogeum.
The Palazzone Necropolis is also defined as an archaeogeosite as it has been the subject of geological stud-
ies which, through the observation of the walls of the tombs, has made it possible to expand the geological
framework for the interpretation of the formation of the Perugia hill. However, in the Palazzone Necrop-
olis, the presence of other tombs is not excluded, especially in the eastern area of the archaeological site
which is currently not open to visitors. The muography technique, thanks to the great penetrating power of
atmospheric muons, fits into this context for the noninvasive identification of undiscovered cavities. This
contribution will present the preliminary results of the muographic campaign carried out at the Palazzone
Necropolis in which the observation of an entire hill was carried out. The results are also inserted in a
geological context for the verification of the densities of the sediments that are present in this territory.

Published
2024-03-07
How to Cite
[1]
D. Borselli, “Muographic Study of the Palazzone Necropolis (Perugia-Italy)”, Journal of Advanced Instrumentation in Science, vol. 2024, no. 1, Mar. 2024.
Section
International Workshop on Cosmic-Ray Muography (Muography2023), Naples, Italy