A comprehensive approach to assess the seismic vulnerability of archaeological sites: the Wupatki Pueblo in Arizona

The proposed research work presents a comprehensive approach to assessing the seismic vulnerability of archaeological sites. This approach aims to be a quick and easy-to-use investigation procedure that enables accurate and large-scale evaluations. While the methods employed are well-established in the literature and have been widely applied to buildings, this study contributes by proposing a structured framework that integrates different assessment procedures at different levels of analysis, specifically tailored to archaeological sites. The analysis is divided into three stages within the conceptual framework: (i) the application of the Masonry Quality Index; (ii) seismic vulnerability assessment and prediction of expected damage; and (iii) analysis of individual walls’ structural response through strength domain, capacity and fragility curves. Specifically, the study explores and adapts four Vulnerability Index methods, i.e. GNDT, Formisano, Vicente and Ferreira methods, to suit the specific characteristics of archaeological sites. To this end, a simplified procedure is proposed to estimate the conventional strength in the methods’ forms. The comparison of the index-based methods is then crucial for critically evaluating the reliability of vulnerability estimations. The paper illustrates the application of this framework through a detailed case study, i.e. the archaeological site of Wupatki Pueblo in Arizona (US), demonstrating its effectiveness in evaluating the seismic risk and defining the vulnerability distribution of the site. Consequently, this approach facilitates the identification of the most sensitive areas, which necessitate further investigation, providing useful outcomes for the decision-making process concerning the conservation and protection of archaeological sites.