The University of Oulu (Finland) carried out a research project in collaboration with the University of Cambridge and Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Roma during 2004-2008 at the site of an ancient Latial city of Crustumerium.

The research team of Uni. Oulu focused on the monumental Road Trench rising to the ancient settlement area. Several tombs were discovered, ranging from the late Orientalising period to the early Imperial era, and as a result the question of a previously undiscovered burial ground was raised. These finds also prompted to reassess the former notions of the assumed size of the settlement during the Iron Age. In addition, the Road Trench was confirmed to have functioned as a route for traffic also in antiquity instead of being interpreted as a defensive moat, dug during the Archaic period as a response to the increased traffic and commerce. Several layers of gravel road surfaces were also discovered, of which most of could be dated to the Republican period when Crustumerium was assumedly under Roman control, along with the structural remains of a building, probably from the early Imperial era.