The investigations undertaken at Faragola in 2010 concentrated on the western sector of the archaeological area where a peristyle built in the 4th century A.D. was examined. It was partially obliterated by the construction of the monumental cenatio, and partially incorporated into the structures of the residential complex. The latter was restructured during the 5th century A.D. when the portico’s east wing was transformed into a corridor providing a link to the bath complex and most of the south sector was affected by restructuring undertaken in order to enlarge the balneum.

The peristyle of the villa at Faragola, covering an overall surface area of about 1225 m2, was quadrangular, surrounded by a portico with pillars and probably paved with a geometric mosaic. Along the western wing of the peristyle a series of large rooms were investigated. These were probably pre-existing and were incorporated and restructured at the time of the creation of the monumental garden. These interventions were attested by the raising of the floor level and the change in the position of the entrance to the rooms on the eastern side, with an opening directly into the portico. No floors, wall revetments or stratigraphy relating to the occupation phases were preserved, making it impossible to define the function of these rooms. It may be suggested that they were residential, dining and reception rooms, characterised by monumental architecture, as attested by the presence of an apsidal wall.

The abandonment of the peristyle’s western part and of the rooms around the east side of the portico occurred during the mid-second half of the 4th century A.D., probably as a result of the severe damage caused by the earthquake which struck Daunia with the epicentre in Irpinia. It cannot be discounted that demolition was undertaken in order to create an open space for a hanging-garden with the cenatio conceived as a pavilion immersed in a rustic setting.

There was much evidence in the area previously occupied by the peristyle attesting the creation of work surfaces relating to the building site for the restructuring of the dining-room, including a large quantity of waste fragments from marble working. It is possible that some of the flooring and wall revetments were removed and reworked to be reused in the floor of the dining-room and other rooms.

The construction of a kiln in among the collapse of one of the rooms may be related to the building site phase. The typology and dimensions seem to indicate its use for the secondary working of glass, although no production indicators were found. Moreover, glass production has already been suggested for Faragola in relation to the find of a series of indicators and hypotheses regarding the panels of glass opus sectile and other artefacts. No significant evidence was found that excludes an early medieval date for the workshop, when the site seems to have had a strong craft-working vocation (the manufacture of pottery, iron, lead, copper and bone artefacts).

Following a phase of abandonment, attested by the presence of layers of collapsed cobbles and sporadic infant burials, the area seems to have been occasionally reoccupied, attested by hearths, burnt layers and ash-filled pits.

The investigations undertaken in a trench to the east of the cenatio complex produced very interesting data regarding the development of the layout and architectural characteristics of the late antique nucleus of structures and subsequent forms of early medieval occupation of the area east of the cenatio and surrounding portico. The excavations brought to light a monumental apsidal structure built of cobbles, only partially investigated. Due to the overlying of the structures from the early medieval phases, the multiple changes in the building’s function and the partial nature of the investigations it is not possible to reconstruct its overall plan or suggest a function.