The site lies on a rocky limestone ( albarese ) spur in a naturally defensible position as regards the Arno valley. On the southwestern side, however, there are rock outcrops which may have been deliberately modelled to enhance the height of the site in relation to the surrounding territory. On this side, corresponding with the rise in the ground level, a stretch of a wall has been brought to light. Although only a few blocks of the external and internal facing of the wall and of the core are preserved, it is sufficient to confirm that they clearly represent part of the town walls.

The investigations (2007), followed by the excavations of selected areas (2008, 2009), have confirmed the potential of the archaeological deposit in various sectors of the site, revealing a series of different situations.

At the centre of the site are the remains of a well for water (area B) which has allowed the modern water system to be documented. This does not, however, exclude the existence of a similar system for the water supply of the earlier occupation periods, which is to be linked to the remains of a water cistern on the southern limit of the hill (area D). It is significant that the well is situated at the central point of the plain, the area most suitable morphologically for urban planning. In fact between the well and the remains of the cistern, substantial parts of a building of monumental character are partially visible. The facing of the walls of the latter is thick (circa 80-90 cm) and consists of regularly cut blocks of albarese, bound with a good mortar, which are preserved for a sole course above the foundation cut.

This building is still to be investigated but it must relate to the sections of wall, built in a similar technique, which were discovered in the western sector of the site (area C). At present only two contiguous walls are visible, but the structure seems to be linked also in a functional sense to the walled circuit, although the relationship between the two – whether it abuts or joins – is still not clear. Nevertheless it is certain that the construction of this building involved cutting the wall of a structure relating to an earlier phase. The latter consists of medium –small blocks of a different type of albarese, bound by extremely white mortar of excellent quality.

The ceramic material recovered from the levels relating to these structures consists exclusively of domestic pottery (mainly testi, jars, paioli and the occasional jug). The pottery and the coins (two bronze denari, one of Lucca and one of Pisa) allow us to place the two main phases of the castello, that of its foundation and that of the great rebuilding, between the end of the 11th and the third quarter of the 13th century. The pottery from the 1980s excavations is currently being studied, it includes some archaic maiolica jugs which suggest that occupation of the settlement continued beyond the end of the 13th century.

It should be noted that beneath the earliest structures of the castello (area C), drystone walls have been identified, probably relating to one or more occupation phases of an earlier period (the material includes fragments of a large coarse ware container for foodstuffs and fragments of imbrices).