Indicatori di attività insediativa ed estrattiva nella Liguria orientale attraverso analisi territoriale LiDAR-drone e indagini archeologiche di superficie. Studio dell’impatto delle trasformazioni permanenti ed elaborazione di un modello predittivo.

This research investigates the long-term transformations produced by settlement and extractive activities in the eastern Ligurian landscape (NW Italy), which remain morphologically detectable even after their abandonment. The study employs innovative tools for spatial and morphological analysis, notably UAV-mounted LiDAR sensors (UAV-LiDAR), to examine how human interventions have reshaped and structured the environment. Through digital modelling and spatial analysis, the project aims to identify and classify, in a diachronic perspective, the surface indicators associated with settlement and mining activities, assessing their residual surface visibility and the resulting impact on the surrounding landscape. The application of UAV-LiDAR technology provides a valuable opportunity to assess its archaeological potential across representative environmental, geomorphological, and vegetational contexts of the Ligurian region. The research introduces a remote-sensing approach to archaeological investigation that has not yet been systematically applied in Liguria. Methodologically, the project adopts an inductive framework that proceeds from the modelling of the known to the exploration of the unknown. Building on established LiDAR-based archaeological methodologies and reference case studies, the research focuses on three selected test areas — Rivarola (Carasco), Lagneto (Framura), and Monte Loreto (Castiglione Chiavarese) — representative of distinct environmental and archaeological contexts. Within these sites, previously documented archaeological structures and surface features are digitally modelled and analysed in detail. Subsequently, the surrounding landscapes are examined to identify additional, often subtle, archaeological indicators through fine-scale morphological analysis of high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) derived from UAV-LiDAR data. The results highlight both the limitations and the potential of a UAV-LiDAR-based approaches to archaeological research in diverse Mediterranean-type environments.