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The investigations conducted previously on the Nasca puquios, with particular reference to those systematically performed by Schreiber and Lancho Rojas (1995), Schreiber and Lancho Rojas (Los puquios de Nasca: un sistema de galerias filtrantes. Editorial Los Pinos, Lima, 1998), Schreiber and Lancho Rojas (Aguas en el Desierto. Los puquios de Nasca. Fondo Editorial, Lima, Peru, 2006), have had the merit of placing the theme of Nasca water management in the center of debate on the ancient Nasca world. Water has become the crossroads of all the other research lines focused on the influence of environment and climate on the Nasca culture, as well as on the geoglyphs, ceremonial architecture, and settlements. In this cultural framework, some studies based on multitemporal, multiscale, and multisensor analyses have been performed in the Rio Grande de Nasca drainage in order to investigate the interaction between the puquios and environmental conditions, as well as to improve knowledge of the local environmental settings. Herein we present and discuss the investigations, based on the integration of remote sensing, GIS -based analyses, and geophysical prospecting, in the framework of the ITACA mission of the Italian CNR. Outputs from satellite-based investigations, along with all the information already available from previous studies, were the input data used in the statistical spatial analyses and geophysical prospecting. The main findings provided information useful to: (i) improve the current knowledge on the puquios at both intra-site and inter-site levels and their relationship with environmental and human settings, (ii) identify unknown puquios, (iii) and support planning for subsequent archaeological excavations. As a whole, the investigations based on the adopted integrated approach provided new insights into this hyper-arid area which has been the homeland for numerous civilizations, despite the extreme physical environment that presents serious obstacles to human occupation.

ATHENA H2020 Twinning project is a three-year duration project and its main objective is to strengthen the Cyprus University of Technology (CUT) Remote Sensing Science and Geo-Environment Research Laboratory in the field of “Remote Sensing Archaeology” by creating a unique link between two internationally-leading research institutions: National Research Council of Italy (CNR) and the German Aerospace Centre (DLR). Through the ATHENA project, CUT’s staff research profile and expertise will be raised while S&T capacity of the linked institutions will be enhanced. In this paper the abovementioned objectives are presented through the various activities accomplished in the first year of the project. These activities include both virtual training by experts in topics such as active remote sensing sensors and sophisticated algorithms, as well as scientific workshops dedicated to specific earth observation and cultural heritage aspects. During this first year, outreached activities have been also performed aiming to promote remote sensing and other non-destructive techniques, including geophysics, for monitoring and safeguarding archaeological heritage of Cyprus. The ATHENA center aims to serve the local community of Cyprus, but at the same time to be established in the wider area of eastern Mediterranean.

The aim of this work is to use spatial analysis to study relationships between environmental parameters and archaeological sites in the Santa Cruz province (Patagonia, Argentina) and to develop an analysis protocol that could reveal including and excluding factors, useful for the research and the discovery of new archaeological sites on the territory. Consequently, a model that considers interactions between sites and some parameters such as the elevation, the slope, the aspect, the landforms, the land use and the distances from water was constructed. Moreover a final sensibility map was produced, that wants to help the archaeologist to know, in every point in the space, how many and which are parameters that could increase the probability to find new archaeological sites and that are survey priorities on the study region. Fil: Danese, M.. Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche; Italia Fil: Cassiodoro, Gisela Eva. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Secretaría de Cultura de la Nación. Dirección Nacional de Cultura y Museos. Instituto Nacional de Antropología y Pensamiento Latinoamericano; Argentina Fil: Guichon, Francisco. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Secretaría de Cultura de la Nación. Dirección Nacional de Cultura y Museos. Instituto Nacional de Antropología y Pensamiento Latinoamericano; Argentina Fil: Goñi, Rafael. Secretaría de Cultura de la Nación. Dirección Nacional de Cultura y Museos. Instituto Nacional de Antropología y Pensamiento Latinoamericano; Argentina Fil: Masini, Nicola. Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche; Italia Fil: Nolé, Gabriele. Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche; Italia Fil: Lasaponara, Rosa. Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche; Italia