In 2005 at piazza Vittorio Veneto 17, inside the Rectory situated within the old castle, an archaeological investigation was undertaken prior to the construction of a loose foundation. Excavation of a stratigraphic deposit in the entrance hall, in an adjacent room to the south and in the stairwell to the north revealed structures and occupation of the area dating to between the late Roman period and the modern era.

Overall the excavation, which covered an area of circa 75 m2 , confirmed that the site was already important in the late Roman period and the Lombard period. The site is situated in the centre of Telgate, where, beginning in the 11th century, the castle was built.

The archaeological deposit, just over one metre deep, gave an interesting overview of the area’s use from the Roman period to more recent eras. It revealed the presence of late Roman, Lombard-early medieval houses, medieval burials and some later structural elements such as small channels and a well which were also part of the settlement.

The late Roman building, its walls 60-80 cm wide, must have been of substantial size with several rooms. Unfortunately, the limited nature of the excavation area did not provide enough evidence for the definition of the structure’s typology. It is probably that it related to the mutatio mentioned in the Itinerarium Hierosolymitanum or Burdigalensis, dated to 333 A.D., which places the mutatio of Tellegatae or Tallegatae in correspondence with the present centre of Telgate, along the route of the Roman road between Bergomum-Brixia. The Lombard-medieval quarter which was built directly over the late Roman structures seems to have been abandoned following a widespread fire.

The evidence for Lombard occupation is provided by two rooms with hearths; the finds recovered are of particular interest – elements of decorated bone, a fragment from a bronze belt, pottery, including the spout of a Lombard jug. This material places this phase of settlement between the second half of the 6th and beginning of the 7th century.

Two tombs date to between the early medieval and the beginning of the late medieval periods. One was anthropoid in form, the other trapezoidal; the deceased lay on their backs, the legs outstretched and arms by their sides, on a W-E alignment.

This important and interesting archaeological deposit probably extends below the rectory building, where there were no interventions below ground in the following centuries, and below the garden.