Cosmic rays and lasers have revealed buried remains of the original Greek settlement deep beneath Italy’s Naples, new research has found. Researchers have long known that ancient Greek burials were hidden beneath the city, but had no access to the burial chambers. Cutting-edge technology now allows researchers to peer beneath the surface without digging.
Originally called Cumae, Naples was renamed Neapolis (New City) around 650 BC, with its temples, piazzas and numerous catacombs. Rione Sanità is a densely populated and picturesque modern district, well known for its multi-era burial chambers, from the Greek period (6th to 3rd centuries BC), the rich man’s tomb called hypogea, and the Roman Empire (2nd to 4th centuries AD), There are also early Christian catacombs.
However, modern buildings on the ground make it difficult to enter the 10-meter-deep ancient sewers, cisterns, and burial chambers. Therefore, Italian and Japanese researchers used muography to identify unknown underground burial chambers in the Greek period. The study was published in the April 3 issue of the journal Scientific Reports.
A muon is a lepton similar to an electron but with a greater mass. Scientists discovered in 1936 that muons are produced by the interaction of cosmic rays with the Earth’s atmosphere, tiny particles that easily penetrate walls and rocks. The muon trajectories are recorded using nuclear emulsion technology, and the paths of the charged particles are captured using extremely sensitive photographic film. By measuring the flux of muons with particle detectors, researchers can observe volcanoes, underground caves and even Egyptian pyramids.
▲ Schematic diagram of the catacombs, with a depth of 33 feet (10 meters), with chambers numbered from 1 to 11. Nos. 2 and 3 are unknown. (Source: Tioukov, V, et al. (2023))
The Greek tomb is about 10 meters above the surface, and the researchers installed particle detectors 18 meters below the ground in a crypt that was used for curing ham in the 19th century. After recording the muon flux for 28 days, about 10 million muons were captured. To identify unknown structures, researchers need known 3D models of the subsurface, comparing known laser-scanned 3D models with the muon flux. If the 3D model is not visible but the muon flux image is abnormal, it can be assumed to be a hidden or unknown tomb. The area of the tomb is about 2×3.5 meters. The rectangle means it is man-made rather than natural.
Considering the depth of the tomb, the researchers believe that it is part of a Greek cemetery from the 6th to the 3rd century BC. It may be the tomb of a rich man, similar to the Toga wearers and Pomegranates catacombs discovered at the end of the 19th century. However, researchers have no way of knowing what is inside the tomb. Miaozi photography cannot distinguish objects smaller than 10 centimeters in size. They can only know the general shape of the tomb, but they cannot see small details such as bones.
(This article is reproduced with the authorization of Taipei Planetarium; Image source: Paper)
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