Detailed magnetic investigations at the ancient Roman site Banias II (northern Israel)

The site of Banias II is located several hundreds of meters south of the known site Banias Aqueduct (the Golan Heights, northern Israel). The physical-geological environments of the site are unfavorable for detailed magnetic investigations: wide surface distribution of high-magnetized basaltic conglomerate and parts strongly disturbs the observed field; dense brushwood hampers the operator movement within the studied area. Magnetic observations (the total number of observation points was 6,255) were performed at about 6,000 m^2. Intervals between the observation points were 1 m, and the level of the magnetic sensor location was 0.5 m above the earth's surface. The standard deviation of the observations was 2.8 nanoTesla. The studied site was subdivided into several homogeneous areas where various averaging/smoothing procedures were applied. As a result, a few negative magnetic anomalies against the positive background due to basaltic conglomerate were clearly recognized. These anomalies were quantitatively interpreted and identified as the ancient Roman cemetery's limestone (non-magnetic) remains. This interpretation agrees with the archaeological conclusions made based on independent factors. Performed 3-D modeling of magnetic field using GSFC software has verified the validity of the developed models.