The excavation is situated on the southernmost outcrop of Capo S. Elia in the territory of Cagliari. The area is formed by a plateau at 138m a.s.l. Archaeological material dating from the 6th-5th millennia B.C. has been recovered in various zones such as the Grotta di S. Elia (Early Neolithic), the grottoes of Bagnale Penale (middle Neolithic), S. Bartolomeo and I Colombi (Early Neolithic) and the open air sites of Marina Piccola (Early Neolithic) and Il Poetto (Middle Neolithic).

A “domus de janas” is present in the area of S. Bartolomeo. Bronze Age material was found in the above mentioned grottoes and sporadic nuragic material was found although no remains of megalithic structures emerged.

The area under excavation is characterised by evidence which dates from the Phoenician-Punic period to the present. The remains of a temple dedicated to Astarte in the Punic age and to Venus in the Roman period contain elements of a water supply system ( a large system datable by typology to the Punic era, a demijohn-shaped cistern of Punic tradition but also present in Roman contexts at Cagliari and a water supply system whose components are not yet clearly defined).

The medieval period is attested by the ruins of a Pisan coastal watch-tower dating to the 13th century. The ruins of the church of S. Elia date to a later but undefined period. The church, known in the 11th century and in ruins in the 17th century was probably built above part of the temple.

In 2005 surveys were undertaken in the area in order to define the extension of the site in the area of the temple of Astarte/Venus and related structures. These led to the identification of a massive footing in opus caementicium of uncertain date situated near the Pisan tower, of a group of walls in the area between the church ruins and the Punic cistern, which were probably part of the temple placed on the declivity, and of a spread of pottery characterised by black glaze pottery, late-Punic commercial amphorae and fragments of coroplastic terracottas. (Alfonso Stiglitz)