Excavations conducted by the University of Foggia and the Archaeological Superintendency of Apulia on the site of Faragola in the territory of Ascoli Satriano (FG) began in 2003. At the same time a survey was undertaken in the Valle del Carapelle and restoration work was undertaken at the
Istituto Centrale per il Restauro.
The research aims to reconstruct the complex vicissitudes of the settlement, from the Daunian phases, to the large Roman and late antique villa and the early medieval rural settlement.

The 2009 excavations looked at several areas of the site which were important for the definition of the villa’s layout in the various construction phases and for an understanding of the spatial functions. At the end of the campaign the excavated area had reached a total surface area of over
3,500 m2. In particular the research defined a number of aspects of the late antique (3rd-4th century) villa’s physiognomy, whose layout had only been partially investigated previously as it was overlaid by structures belonging to the later phase of monumentalisation, datable to the 5th century.

One trench confirmed the presence of a large garden extending to the west of the luxurious dinning room (cenatio) that was restructured during the 5th century A.D. This in turn confirmed the hypothesis that this large hall which must have appeared as a pavilion, a sort of ‘gazebo’ in the garden, with a roof but with large openings in the sides to favour the circulation of air and light. The identification of two pre-existing parallel walls, aligned with the wall identified in the previous campaigns, below the portico of the cenatio, led to the discovery of a section of a great quadrangular peristyle dating to the 4th century A.D., extending over an area of over 1200 m2, probably divided by pillars. A number of rooms, only partially excavated, must have been arranged around the peristyle. Most of the walls belonging to the peristyle had already been identified in the area of the baths complex and in correspondence with the passageway between the cenatio and the baths. The multiple and complex functional and architectural transformations which these rooms underwent between the 5th and 7th century meant that it was only possible to partially define the overall layout of the complex.

The investigations undertaken in the sector to the north-west of the portico of the cenatio revealed a complex of large rooms belonging to the 3rd-4th century villa. These were characterised by construction interventions during the 5th-6th century, with subsequent changes in function in the early medieval period. There was evidence which would seem to indicate that in the late antique period these structures had a service-productive function (probably linked to grain processing and storage).
On the other hand, important data was acquired relating to the abandonment of the villa and the subsequent forms and modes of occupation in the early medieval period (7th-9th century). The rooms were used as a cemetery, characterised in particular by infant burials. In some of these burials there was evidence of ritual practices (refrigerium). Subsequently, the structures were used for residential purposes, as attested by the evidence of a kitchen, and probably divided into family units.
Important data regarding diet and construction in perishable materials may be produced by the bio-archaeological analyses currently in progress.

A trench situated at circa 20 m east of the area excavated to date was positioned in correspondence with anomalies detected by the magnetometer survey. This led to the discovery of a complex of rooms where craft-working activities took place, probably metal working (in particular copper), attested by waste materials. This is important for the understanding of the layout of the villa’s service and production areas. The villa at Faragola seems to have had an extensive craft-working complex, characterised by numerous workshops and a wide range of production activities identified during previous campaigns (pottery, stone, metal and glass working)