Instituto de Geofísica, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Cd. Universitaria, Circuito Exterior s/n, 14260, Mexico City, Mexico.
Facultad de Ingeniería UNAM, Cd. Universitaria, Circuito Interior s/n, 14260, Mexico City, Mexico.
Sci Rep. 2018 Oct 18;8(1):15391. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-33888-9.
Currently, archaeologists perform excavations determined by previous geophysical studies to accurately establish the prospective targets and minimize site disturbance. Among others, one of the methods most widely employed is the Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT-2D, -3D). However, investigation of the subsoil of archaeological buildings is not possible to carry out with traditional geophysical methods, because the structure itself prevents it. Therefore, it is necessary to design non-invasive special arrays capable of characterizing the subsoil of such buildings, while preserving their historical context. Here we show how this procedure combined with sequences of resistivity observations at depth allowed us to detect a low resistivity body beneath the pyramid of El Castillo in Chichen Itza (Mexico). This feature may be associated with a cavity (karst) partially filled with sweet water. On the other hand, a natural cavity was discovered under El Osario pyramid (south of El Castillo), at the end of the 19th century. Therefore, this pyramid was also studied to validate the effectiveness of this methodology, obtaining outstanding results. This method provides an interesting procedure to investigate the subsoil of archaeological structures for unveiling evidences that allow specialists to understand the religious meaning of these temples.
目前，考古学家根据先前的地球物理研究进行挖掘，以准确确定预期目标并最小化遗址干扰。其中，应用最广泛的方法之一是电阻率层析成像（ERT-2D、-3D）。然而，由于建筑物本身的原因，传统的地球物理方法无法对考古建筑物的地基进行调查。因此，有必要设计能够对这些建筑物的地基进行特征描述的非侵入式特殊阵列，同时保留其历史背景。在这里，我们展示了如何将这一程序与深度电阻率观测序列相结合，来探测奇琴伊察城堡金字塔下的低电阻率体（墨西哥）。该特征可能与一个部分充满淡水的洞穴（喀斯特地貌）有关。另一方面，在 19 世纪末，人们在 El Osario 金字塔（El Castillo 以南）下发现了一个天然洞穴。因此，为了验证该方法的有效性，也对这座金字塔进行了研究，取得了出色的结果。该方法为研究考古结构的地基提供了一种有趣的程序，揭示了使专家能够理解这些寺庙宗教意义的证据。
