In the area of the eastern gate (Area 4000) it was decided to shift attention to the zone downhill, where stretches of wall were visible between the gate and the site’s southern fortifications. A part of the structures can be interpreted as substructures created to terrace the slope, forming steps at different heights in order to support both the gate and the town wall. A substantial length of the latter was excavated, the external face being the best preserved while the inner face was compromised by the collapse of the structures above and by the vegetation.

Among the large amount of finds, objects relating to weaving (loom weights, bobbins) were also present in this case together with at least one fragment from a choroplastic terracotta of a human face. At the end of the season, a wall was found towards the inner part of the site, attesting the presence of another building, which for the moment does not seem to be linked to the fortifications. This structure will be excavated in coming campaigns.

The excavation of the levels of collapse and occupation in the large room in Area 5000 was completed and the few surviving patches of the ancient floor surface were exposed. The floor was made up of a compact yellowish beaten clay, which filled and levelled the uneven natural basalt lava bedrock which was outcropping in several places. The large room was divided into two distinct parts, a tile roof covered the larger one occupying the northern portion, and the smaller section was open-air and facing south onto the valley. The disturbance created by old illegal excavations cut into some parts of the stratigraphy down to the bedrock and had destroyed any evidence of a dividing wall, which may have been a structure in perishable materials. The two sectors had independent entrances; open on the long western and eastern sides. Among the finds, there was black gloss pottery and a number of loom weights.

Continuation of the clearing back of the undergrowth and surface clearing of the area with the emerging structures (Area 6000) identified in the previous campaign to the north-west of the warehouses/storerooms revealed the presence of a large rectangular building (circa 7 × 13 m), on a north-east/south-west alignment. The structure was built using the same large lava stone blocks that seems typical of the earliest structures on the site and fits into the regular urban plan characterising the entire central-eastern part of the settlement.

In the central zone of the settlement (Area 7000), work continued on the large circular cistern. The enlargement of the excavation area, opened in the previous season, documented the structure’s size (circa 4 m in diameter) and the presence of an imposing wall of tufa blocks, only partially visible within the trench. It was decided to excavate only a part of the cistern down to the floor. For most of the approximately 4 m of depth preserved, the courses of large tufa ashlar blocks were faced with a thick layer of waterproof opus signinum, on which a number of ancient repairs were visible. The floor was also covered with opus signinum and a raised kerb reinforced the join between the floor and the wall. The fill, containing few pottery fragments, mainly comprised stones and tufa fragments, probably from the collapse of surrounding structures. At the end of the excavation, a first intervention to consolidate the structure was undertaken.