The excavation undertaken in the south-west corner of the house’s southern cubiculum aimed to define the relationship between the earliest beaten earth road surfaces identified in the northern stretch of the vicolo del Fauno, datable to the early Samnite phase, and the construction of the house.

The west and south walls of the room, as well as the perimeter walls of the house, were built respectively in opus quadratum and opus africanum and belong to the first construction phase of the domus.

The trench also uncovered the wall paintings and floors relating to diverse periods of the room’s use and examined the foundations of the perimeter walls.

Three different wall decorations and the same number of contemporary floor levels were identified. On the basis of the materials found and the stylistic analysis of the different wall paintings they can be dated to between the early Samnite and the Imperial periods. Furthermore, excavation of the foundation trenches of the walls present in the trench confirmed the proposed dating, that is the early Samnite period, for the earliest floor level found in the room.

Very little material was found in the foundation trenches of the perimeter walls: worthy of note a fragment of black glaze skyphos dating to the 4th century B.C.