This was the 10th excavation campaign at Rontana castle (Brisighella, Ra).
In past years, traces were found indicating that the site was occupied prior to the date known from written sources (960 A.D.), towards the end of the 9th century. In the first phase of fortification, datable to the mid 10th century, numerous traces were found, in a sector east of the plateau on which the castle stood, of a timber palisade that defended the site.

The excavations uncovered several earlier phases, for example in the area demolished and obliterated when the late 13th century fortifications were built, in a space dedicated to craft working activities, within the trapezoidal courtyard delimited by stone arches, as occurred in the most important European fortified sites. The building of this structure led to the demolition of a vast residential quarter, partly rock-cut and partly masonry-built. The interiors were faced with a thick layer of chalky plaster, in some cases decorated with elegant stuccowork. There were also spaces for food preparation with floor level hearths paved with small stone slabs. Other elements of domestic equipment, including archaic majolica jugs and cooking vessels, were also present.

During the course of the 14th century, the settlement also occupied a plateau lying much lower than the main one, in an area interpreted as the castle ‘borgo’. Several houses were found in this zone, built using a different technique involving the use of timber mixed with stones. In fact, the walls of these buildings were built on a base of stones bonded with chalk and the timber frameworks were fixed on this foundation. The floors were beaten earth, used to level the irregular surface of the bedrock, which was less compact here than over the rest of the site. Immediately beside the entrance, in the interior of the main room, there was the stone foundation for a staircase leading to the upper floor. There were usually two rooms on the ground floor. Several coins and everyday objects were found in the occupation levels, mainly datable to between the 14th and 15th century, often evidence of the commercial relationship with Tuscany. Three new trenches were opened in the Rocca area.

An entire late 15th century room was found on the east side, paved in tiles laid in a herringbone pattern. The perimeter walls of this large rectangular room, found inside the Rocca, were preserved to a height of c. one metre and showed evidence of blocking and restoration, indicating continuity of use until just before the castle’s violent abandonment in 1591. On the north side, there were traces of a late medieval construction site relating to the building of the Rocca’s defensive walls. The foundations of the walls and of the central courtyard cut several areas of a vast cemetery, which was situated by the early medieval church.