This was the fourth campaign in the locality of Valle della Chiesa di Roncà and the second campaign at Cà Tessari. The investigations were undertaken along the main line of the Valle della Chiesa and in particular the stretch crossing the locality of Cà Tessari. The site extends along the riverbed for an overall length of about 305 m and width of about 5 m. The site’s co-ordinates fall between Lat. 45.488776° – Long. 11.292974° and Lat. 45.494698° – Long. 11.294002°.

Contrary to the investigations carried out along the line of the torrent (surface survey), excavation was possible in the locality of Cà Tessari (ca. 144 m a.s.l.). A trench was opened that linked trenches excavated in the preceding year to several outcrops of basalt breccias and nummulitic limestone emerging along the active bed. After long and meticulous work it was possible to link the various outcrops and therefore integrate the data collected by A. Massalongo in his work of 1857 entitled “Nuova scoperta di piante fossili nella provincia veronese” published in “Notizie scientifiche, letterarie, artistiche dell’Ibis”, pp. 144-145, Cirelli Ed., Estratto dalla Specola d’Italia, Anno I, n. 9. The stratigraphic recording was undertaken in collaboration with Dr. Guido Roghi of the CNR ‘Istituto di Geoscienze e Georisorse’ at Padova.

The collected data has yet to be processed. However, the basalt breccias linking the 2012 excavation and the outcrops in the riverbed was characterised by a minute granulometry with the presence of occasional fossil remains (mainly small bivalves and red algae).

The layers’ attitude was direction 34°; slope 8°. At the base of the volcanic breccias there was an increase in the granulometry and in the number of fossils. These were mainly bivalves and small gastropods, some of which appeared to belong to a rather rare species.

The volcanic breccias lay directly on an erosion surface that presented the following attitude: 11° direction; 40° slope. The erosion surface lay within a dolomitised nummulitic limestone, at least 1 m thick.
Rock samples were collected from the excavation area.