We show an extensive multimethod geophysical study of focusing on some enigmatic subsurface structures found at Ancient Aigeira (N Peloponnes, Greece) that could be interpreted either as prehistoric chamber tombs or complex weathering patterns of the local marl–conglomerate rock sequences. It turns out that the nonseismic methods do not allow to distinguish between an archaeological and a geological origin of the observed patterns with certainty. In contrast, we demonstrate how shear-wave seismics and full-waveform inversion (FWI) can be used in archaeological prospection for distinguishing between these alternative essentially different interpretational models that are not distinguishable through nonseismic prospection data. The example site Aigeira is strategically well located on a hill on the Northern Peloponnese overlooking the Corinthian Gulf and has been inhabited with occupational gaps since Middle Neolithic times until the 12th to early 14th century ce. Magnetics, ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) reveal a honeycomb-shaped anomaly pattern that could have been interpreted as a system of prehistoric chamber tombs. The time-domain SH-FWI strategy based on a sequential inversion of low-pass and band-pass filtered data results in subsurface models for shear-wave velocity and density that accurately fits the complicated seismic data set. A highly heterogeneous subsurface is revealed that is characterized by linear cracks on a decimetre scale. The seismic FWI results are compared in detail with GPR, ERT and among each other. It turns out that the FWI result is consistent with each of these other geophysical methods but provides a more comprehensive subsurface characterization that it is supported by corings in addition. With the help of the seismic survey, we can reject the interpretation hypothesis of a prehistoric cemetery with chamber tombs and confirm that the enigmatic geophysical patterns represent a geological weathering structure that could be addressed as a reincised fan delta draped by reddish palaeosols.

中文翻译：

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史前墓葬还是地质陷阱？Ancient Aigeira 的多方法案例研究，重点是地震全波形反演

我们展示了一项广泛的多方法地球物理研究，重点关注在古艾盖拉（希腊伯罗奔尼撒半岛北部）发现的一些神秘的地下结构，这些结构可以被解释为史前室墓葬或当地泥灰砾岩序列的复杂风化模式。事实证明，非地震方法无法确定地区分所观察模式的考古起源和地质起源。相比之下，我们展示了剪切波地震和全波形反演（FWI）如何用于考古勘探，以区分这些替代性的本质不同的解释模型，这些模型无法通过非地震勘探数据进行区分。ce. 磁学、探地雷达 (GPR) 和电阻率断层扫描 (ERT) 揭示了一种可能被解释为史前室墓系统的蜂窝状异常模式。基于低通和带通滤波数据的顺序反演的时域 SH-FWI 策略可生成精确拟合复杂地震数据集的剪切波速度和密度的地下模型。揭示了一个高度异质的地下，其特征在于分米尺度的线性裂缝。地震 FWI 结果与 GPR、ERT 等进行了详细比较。事实证明，FWI 结果与这些其他地球物理方法中的每一种都是一致的，但提供了更全面的地下特征，此外它还得到了取心的支持。在地震勘测的帮助下，