The excavation trenches by the Department of History and Archaeology of the NKUA at the archaeological site of Plasi Marathon (Attica, Greece) have already revealed several architectural remains of the Classical period. A combined GPR and ERT survey was initiated in order to determine the existence and geometry of additional buried structures in the unexcavated parts of the site. The results of this geophysical survey will not only assist the archaeologist’s planning for the next excavation steps, but will also provide valuable information for the density of habitation in the area, a significant factor for the understanding of the importance of ancient Marathon. Fifty-two GPR and eighteen ERT profiles were carried out in a selected area. After data processing, the obtained radargrams and resistivity tomograms are presented in the form of fence diagrams. Moreover, volume/depth slices have been extracted for specified depths from GPR and ERT in order to compare their results. Several identified geophysical anomalies can be interpreted as archaeological domestic remains, supporting a rather dense pattern of habitation, hence the archaeological significance of the site.

Many researchers have presented that ground penetrating radar (GPR) is a subsurface survey method indicated to acquire important preliminary information in various geological subsurface investigations, but also in archaeological and cultural heritage studies (Conyers, 2016). GPR stands out among the geophysical methods applied in archaeology, given the fact that it is a non-destructive practical field technique. GPR results can be presented as bi-dimensional profiles (2D) and three-dimension images (3D), in the form of block diagrams, fence-diagrams and volume/depth-slices. Especially the amplitude maps (e.g., depth-slices maps) allow the identification of areas with high or low amplitude of specific deep reflectors. Therefore, they can be used to identify buried targets and their dimensions, allowing the reconstruction of the subsurface in 3D (Porsani et al., 2010).

This is the first of a two-volume final report on the excavation of the Minoan cemetery and associated finds at Livari Skiadi, near Goudouras, at the southeastern end of Crete. The cemetery was unearthed during a rescue excavation performed by the 24th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture, under the direction of Chrysa Sofianou, who was at that time responsible for the antiquities of the Siteia prefecture, and with the participation of Yiannis Papadatos, together with a small group of archaeology students from the Department of History and Archaeology of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. The excavation lasted three consecutive summers, from 2008 until 2010, and it revealed a tholos tomb and burial rock shelter used in the Prepalatial period, a house tomb dated to the Neopalatial period, and deposits of funerary material in open areas surrounding these tombs.