During 2005 the excavation of the ancient parish complex of Borgonato, already investigated in 2001 was completed. The new research covered an area of 1200 m2 which included the church and the areas to the south and west occupied by buildings with a stratification running from the late medieval period to the 17th century.
In the open area west of the church of S. Vitale over 200 burials were found, both in stone lined and earth graves. All were orientated on a E-W alignment and arranged in parallel rows. In all burials the deceased was facing east, the arms usually crossed on the chest or abdomen, placed along the sides of the body or in a random position. It was not possible to establish a precise chronology for the inhumations which can only be attributed generically to the medieval period. Only one burial contained a fragment of soapstone, whilst in another two cases the deceased wore simple finger rings of a typology which cannot be classified. However, it was possible to date several stone lined burials to the early medieval period as they were cut from the perimeter walls of the second church; most of the tombs, however, seem attributable to the Romanesque period.
In the area outside the church some burials cut a lime-pit, probably relating to the construction of the Romanesque church. The area south of the church was also scattered with tombs the constitute a single extensive early medieval cemetery.
It is probable that the construction of a residential palace for the parish clergy (datable to between the 12th-13th century) south of the church orientated the subsequent development of the cemetery area towards the west.
In the area immediately south of the necropolis an extension of cobbles was found which filled regular shaped pits cut into the sterile clay. This stone surface may have been part of a Roman settlement structure, as suggested by several pottery fragments found amongst the cobbles. (Andrea Breda, Ivana Venturini, Angelo Valsecchi)