The latest research undertaken in the area of the Cronicario di Sant’Antioco in the summer of 2011 concentrated on three main areas, producing new information on the site’s history. The investigation of room IIG continued with the removal of the earliest layers of the Phoenician period down to the bedrock. The materials revealed in these layers dated to a period between the mid 8th and the first quarter of the 7th century B.C. A series of dumps, characterised by the constant presence of charcoal fragments, slag, cobbles, large lumps of semi-worked iron and fragments of vitrified tuyeres probably resulted from the dismantling of a smelting furnace.

Part of a floor was exposed below these layers, on top of which Greek and Phoenician materials dating to within the first half of the 7th century B.C. were found in association, thus revealing interesting cultural dynamics.
Further finds clarified a number of questions regarding the foundation of the archaic settlement. The first Phoenician levels rested directly on the abandonment layers of the Neolithic (facies Sub-Ozieri) settlement. Therefore, on their arrival, the Phoenicians settled in an area that had been abandoned for centuries; while the nuragic populations preferred to settle on the hill top, where the so-called “Sabaudo fort” stands today.

The excavations also examined the layers below the Roman road B. When the earliest levels of use were reached, it was seen that in the Phoenician period this space had a different use. In fact, the cobble surface exposed in the area occupied by the road may be interpreted as a paved portico, originally covered by a timber structure. Furthermore, to the south-west of the same trench, the opening of a probable well (well V), surrounded by a circle of squared stone blocks was identified.

An interesting situation emerged in sector IV, where a well (well IV) was situated on a part of road B. This structure, completely lined with stones, reached the bedrock at a depth of 2.30 m and probably served to collect the waste waters from this part of the settlement. The well, filled at the beginning of the 1st century A.D., contained material from the period between the 2nd and 1st century B.C. Among the finds there was a large amount of late Punic and republican Roman pottery, almost intact or reconstructable, including a large brazier similar to late Hellenistic types and the lower part of a terracotta statuette of a female divinity. A part of these materials probably came from clearing of areas of the Punic temple with related furnishings. Similar finds were made during the previous excavation campaign.