Integrated remote sensing approach in Cahuachi (Peru): Studies and results of the ITACA mission (2007-2010)

ITACA (Italian heritage Conservation and Archaeo-geophysics) is an international mission of the Italian CNR which applies different scientific methodologies, strongly based on the use of Earth Observation, to contribute to the study of the precolombine archaeology and the cultural heritage conservation and management in Peru and Bolivia. From 2007 up to today the research activity of the ITACA, funded by the Italian Foreign Ministry Affairs, has been focused on the Nasca Ceremonial Centre of Cahuachi, the Nasca geoglyphs (both of them in Southern Peru), the Ceremonial center of Tiwanaku (Bolivia) and the archaeological sites of Arenal and Ventarron in the Lambayeque region (Northern of Peru). Most of the scientific investigations have been carried out in Cahuachi and in the drainage basin of the Rio Nasca, with the aim of supporting archaeological studies and excavations of the Centro de Estudios Arqueológicos Precolombinos directed by Giuseppe Orefici. The main activity has been the archaeo-geophysics based on the integration of ground, aerial and satellite remote sensing methods, thus allowing the archaeologists to find buried walls, tombs and ceremonial offerings in Cahuachi and to discover a large buried settlement in the Nasca riverbed.