Nicola Masini
Nicola Masini (born 1965) is an Italian scientist with CNR noted for his work on exploring traces of Andean civilizations in Peru and Bolivia using spatial technologies and Remote Sensing. Biography. He graduated in Engineering in 1990. He became Researcher with the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche in 1995, Senior scientist at CNR-IBAM in 2003, Professor of Science for Conservation and Architectural Restoration at the University of Basilicata since 2002, and Research Director of CNR-ISPC. His dominant scientific interest is the application and the development of new approaches to archaeological research by integrating satellite remote sensing, LiDAR  and geophysical prospecting. He has been directing Italian Conservation heritage and Archaeogeophysics Mission in Peru since 2007. From 2007 to 2015, he has been directing several scientific investigations at the Nasca ceremonial center of Cahuachi, Pachacamac, Tiwanaku, Machu Picchu and a number of archaeological sites in the Nasca Province and Lambayeque region. The most remarkable achievements of the ITACA Mission are the discovery of a settlement on the riverbed of the Nasca, a number of findings in some of the Cahuachi temples, the monitoring of archaeological looting in South and North Peru, and study of the ancient channeling in Pachacamac . Nicola Masini, investigating some geoglyphs in Pampa de Atarco near the Ceremonial center of Cahuachi contributed to provide a new hypothesis on the Nasca lines. The research conducted using remote sensing, along with Giuseppe Orefici and Rosa Lasaponara, put in evidence a spatial, functional and religious relationship between these geoglyphs and the temples of Cahuachi. Since 2003, he has been chief advisor of a research project with the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Henan (China) focusing on the use of digital space technologies for archaeological investigations and the management of cultural resources. He is currently conducting investigations using satellite imagery , including SAR, to identify unknown sites and routes along the old Silk Road. Since 2005, in Southern Italy, he has been conducting some remote sensing-based investigations on medieval settlements abandoned in the Late Middle Ages. In 2018 using LiDAR he enabled to discover a fortified settlement under the canopy in North of Basilicata. Current research. His scientific interest centers on the application and development of methodologies for the conservation of cultural heritage and archaeological research. His interdisciplinary approach draws on spatial technologies, non invasive diagnostics, and geophysics in a holistic vision that brings together history, archaeology, and conservation Nicola