During the 2003 campaign investigations on the plateau north of the castle and the adjacent earthworks revealed the absence of medieval structures. However, these investigations drew attention to two walls, one which seemed to retain the earthworks to the south and the other, at a right angle to the first, running along the right hand side of the access road to the plateau. It was hypothesized that these walls belonged to a residential structure of considerable size.
Excavations in 2005 were concentrated in two points. A first trench was opened by the eastern end of the wall at the base of the upper embankment where a second wall joins it at a right angle.
A second trench was opened at the southern end of the wall that followed the western and southern limits of the lower embankment forming an L-shaped area. To the south another wall came to light on a N-S alignment but with a different angle towards the east. Along the southern edge of the earthworks another wall on a N-S alignment was uncovered.
The excavations showed that the walls had no foundations and rested directly on natural at a depth not far below present ground level. The width and height of the walls was not sufficient to support the roof of a room of such size (13.60×10m) without adequate foundations. It would also seem that the structures were not retaining walls for the upper and lower embankments, but rest against them creating a sort of facing for these accumulations of earth. Therefore, it may be suggested that they constitute the systematization of the area in front of the castle’s northern entrance. This U-shaped space, partially covered by a wooden structure could have been used for housing animals. (Simonetta Minguzzi)