In search of the Royal Ptolemaic Cemetery in central Alexandria, Egypt-the first contact

At Chatby in central Alexandria, Egypt, a team from the University of Patras conducted a detailed geophysical study as part of an investigation for locating the Royal Ptolemaic Cemetery. The exploration site is located in the Latin and Greek cemeteries in the southeast corner of the modern cemeteries of Alexandria. An area of 10 000 m2 was investigated down to a depth of 10 m. Gravity, electromagnetic prospecting, electrical, ground‐penetrating radar and seismic methods were applied. The use of various methods allowed as much information from the subsurface as possible to be obtained and comparison of the data in order to enhance interpretation. Despite the increased geophysical noise present in such a highly urbanized environment, intelligent selection of field parameters, use of advanced processing techniques and specialized software made it possible to reveal important information from the subsurface data. Interpreted geophysical features may be related to buried archaeological structures at some locations of the area explored. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.