Archaeoseismology of Architecture: a new tool for Seismic Risk mitigation?

Although archaeological sites have been used to investigate past earthquakes since the 1970s, only in recent years have archaeologists of building tried to extend the archaeoseismological approach to architectural contexts. The innovation of such research lies in the fact that the object of investigation are not archaeological areas, but rather ancient buildings, that is to say artefacts that are not in a 'fossilized' condition but that continue to undergo anthropic actions. In terms of seismic risk mitigation these studies are interesting because they deal with two different aspects of seismic risk analysis. Firstly they provide important information on the seismic history of the area in which the object of the study is located, therefore investigating seismic hazard. Secondly, they provide a better understanding of the structural behaviour of the building in relation to seismic stress, suggesting the best method of intervention to reduce its vulnerability. Although early studies in this field have achieved interesting results, we are still far from having identified an applicative method for this new kind of information. Two case studies will be presented, through which the potentials and questions that are yet to be resolved regarding this new interesting discipline will be illustrated. Future improvements will be suggested in order to make archaeseismology of architecture a new important tool in seismic risk mitigation.