About us

History of Lerici Foundation

The Institute was founded, and legally recognized in 1947, at the Politecnico di Milano (D.C.P.S. n° 349, March 5th, 1947), on the initiative of Eng. Carlo Maurilio Lerici. He turned the “Centro di Prospezioni Geominerarie” (Geo-mineral Prospecting Centre) into the “Istituto di Geofisica Applicata” (Applied Geo-Physics Institute), one of the most advanced centres for research in mining, hydrocarbons, water and gas in post-war Italy.

“Ing. Carlo Maurilio Lerici” Foundation was the first institution in Italy implementing non-invasive diagnosis methods for the localization and recognition of undiscovered archaeological structures. The Foundation is an Institute subject to the High Supervision of the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities.

A strong supporter of the tight links between science and humanism, Eng. Lerici promoted from 1955 integrated surveys through the Etruscan necropolis of Tarquinia, Cerveteri, and Vulci, the results of which gave way to a new chapter in the history of science applied to archaeology. Thus, the “Archaeological Prospectin Unit” was established, entitled to its founder, for developing, experimenting, and systemically applying geo-physical, geological and remote sensing disciplines oriented to archaeological investigation. Since the early Sixties the initiatives promoted by the Lerici Foundation arose interest within the most prestigious research centres specializing in archaeological investigation: Pennsylvania University (USA), Oxford Archaeology Laboratory (Great Britain), CNRS Geophysical Research Centre (Garcy – France), and Rheinisches Landesmuseum in Bonn (Germany). An interest formalized with the subscription of permanent agreements of collaboration and data sharing.

Beyond an intense prospecting activity – more than 800 campaigns carried on both in Italy and abroad –giving way to the acquisition of a world unique range of experience and a rich archive, Lerici Foundation also promoted the issue of scientific magazines such as the “Rivista di Geofisica Applicata”, “Prospezioni Archeologiche”, “Prospezioni Archeologiche- Quaderni”, as well as monographic books.

For over 30 years Lerici Foundation has been a national and international didactic reference point, activating training courses in non-invasive investigation techniques, attended by archaeologists, Cultural Heritage officials, and geo-physicists, definitely contributing in shaping an “attitude” in the field of territorial policies aimed at the protection af the national Heritage.

During the Eighties two factors matched and largely contributed in widening the activities and the interests of Lerici Foundation: the advancement of technological resources (both in the instrumental and in the informatic fields) and a growing awareness – on the side of public bodies and private operators - of the importance of prior knowledge of territory in order to perform planning correctly.

Lerici Foundation, although continuing its traditional research fields such as remote sensing, geophysics, geoarchaeology, and archaeological research, has expanded its own activity also to:

• underground prospection in urban context;
• non destructive checks and controls of architectural structures;
• studies for the rehabilitation of archaeological areas and historical centres, in cohordination with the Departments of Architecture and Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Politecnico di Milano;
• master plans and management plans processing, particularly for UNESCO;
• territorial data management, by implementing particular database softwares (Site Manager Data Base – SMDB)/GIS.

The Foundation staff

The Foundation has a permanent staff of geo-physicists, geologists, and archaeologists, side by side with technicians for data detection (topographs, probing technicians, etc...). The cohordination of the Institute is entrusted to the Director and the President of the Foundation. Thanks to its service and research activities, the Foundation can avail itself of the collaboration of external specialists from various scienctific disciplines (informatics, geophysics, geology and structures engeneering, hydraulic engeneering, and geotechnique), as well as archaeological, of qualified university institutes and museums.