The first International Congress of Speleology in Artificial Cavities; HYPOGEA2015 was successfully held in Rome / Italy during March 11-15, 2015. Following this event, the second congress, HYPOGEA 2017 will be held in the magnificent scenario of Cappadocia / Turkey during March 6-10, 2017.
The Congress will be organized by HYPOGEA (Italy) and OBRUK Cave Research Group (Turkey), with the patronages of International Union of Speleology, Balkan Speleological Union, Turkish Federation of Speleology, Istanbul Technical University / EURASIA Institute of Earth Sciences, Paris 8 University, Institute of Research for Hydrological Protection of the National Research Council of Italy, Municipality of Nevsehir and Directorate of Nevsehir Museums.
The main goal of HYPOGEA 2017 Congress is to continue the exchange of experiences acquired at the international level in the field of artificial cavities which had begun by HYPOGEA 2015. The sessions of HYPOGEA 2017 will have a strong emphasis on archaeology, archaeometry, promotion of the underground historical and cultural heritage, its safeguard and exploitation, with some plenary lectures and invited speeches on those subjects.
The sessions of HYPOGEA 2017 will be focused on four main topics:
1) Explorations
During this session the results of new explorations in artificial cavities will be presented. We strongly believe that the opportunity to exchange the information about different explorations of artificial cavities from different areas of world will improve both the collaboration among different teams and the organization of future explorations.
2) Cultural and economic importance of the artificial cavities
Underground artificial cavities are of high cultural and economic importance. In Cappadocia, underground structures like Goreme or Derinkuyu receive hundreds of thousand tourists every year, strongly supporting the local economy. Water supply in semi-arid zones is also another important aspect, and in many Mediterranean countries several underground aqueducts from Roman period are still in use.
3) Hazards, remediation and rehabilitation
In underground places, the treatment and the preservation of the cultural heritage needs special techniques. In areas where artificial cavities are present, the collapse of underground structures may represent a serious problem. Protection, rehabilitation or remediation?
4) Survey, mapping and dating techniques
Detections of unknown underground cavities, survey and mapping techniques are in continuous improvement and will be discussed during the congress. Dating is an important challenge. How is it possible to estimate the age of underground cavities when no artifact, sediment or architectural style is present?
The Congress HYPOGEA 2017 will be held on March 6-8, 2017.
After the Congress there will be several excursions to various underground cities, rock churches, cave dwellings and geologically interesting points of Cappadocia. Also, there will be excursions in Istanbul both before and after the Congress.
The important deadlines to contribute to the Congress are:
Abstract submission: 10 January 2016
Full paper submission: 10 June 2016
In order to ensure distribution of the proceedings during the Congress, the above deadlines will be strictly maintained.
We kindly request your attendance and your help to share this information among your colleagues.
Organization Committee:
