In the summer of 2009 a private intervention of earth removal and construction in locality Irto di Capo Colonna necessitated rescue work, with a brief investigation which has provided preliminary and still partial results, to verify the significance of the archaeological evidence.

It is a vast hilly area looking on to the ionic coast, about 8km from Crotone towards S and 5 of Capo Colonna, the remains of whose Greek sanctuary are clearly visible from the investigated site. The area was already known from previous field surveys, which had noted human activity from the late Republican period until late antiquity. The material recovered, mainly amphorae, suggested that the site had an agricultural function with related installations for the production of ceramic containers.

The excavations carried out in the summer of 2009 focused on a fairly wide strip, in total of about 60 square metres, three trenches were opened in this area, starting with the section running in an E-W direction brought to light by the modern building works. The latter had, in fact, intercepted a concentration of stone material and pottery (building materials) relating to a walled structure.
The clayey nature of the soil and the diffused and fairly frequent presence of archaeological material in the area of the excavation (above all fragments of brick fragments from a kiln, for which however no other elements were recovered, but also slag and a spacer) support the findings from the field survey.

Corresponding with the point of greater concentration of the material in the section brought to light by the earth removal trench, a curvilinear wall was recovered, which followed on N-S axis, built in slightly irregular blocks but deliberately worked so as to create the semicircular perimeter of the structure. It has an internal diameter of 1,40 m. and seems to continue towards the S; to the east of the latter, therefore presumably on the interior, a probable setting of lime mortar was noted, visible for a brief stretch. The part of the plan identified does not allow us to define the nature or the function of the workshop, but as far as can be seen it does not conserve evident traces of activities linked with the use of fire.

The existence of an earlier occupation phase of the area is demonstrated by the finds of prehistoric material and above all by the presence, circa 10-15 metres to the south of the structure discussed above, of some blocks with holes clearly to hold the posts of huts (these had been removed in the past to build the foundations). Sporadic finds of lithic instruments, of the Middle Palaeolithic, and fossils also come from higher levels of the sector investigated by the trenches.

The area forms part of a complex sequence of human occupation over a long period, in an area which forms part of the territory of Kroton but at the same time maintains a certain autonomy, at least economically, whose phases however are still being defined