In 2007 and 2008 a series of trenches were excavated on the south part of the external defensive walls at Muro Tenente. The surface accumulation of stones and earth were removed and a trench circa 10 x 27 m was opened along the internal curtain of the defences, revealing the primary characteristics of this inner wall. The dry-stone facing comprised local stone blocks of irregular shape and size, some of which had been squared. Despite the irregularity in the size of the stones and in their positioning, a certain linearity could be seen in the construction of this section of wall. However, these linear alignments did not run the entire length and were often interrupted by irregular ill-fitting stones which left gaps then filled with smaller stones. The characteristics of this internal facing were similar to those of the fortifications at Valesio. A stairway was uncovered along the internal curtain wall which provided access to the summit of the fortification. Four steps in a very good state of preservation, circa 0.80 m wide and circa 0.30 m deep, were exposed. The stairway descended to the east and was built along the wall, causing it to narrow at this point. It was reached by a road circa 5 m wide, running along the curtain wall. The occupation level was exposed in the western section of the trench, mainly constituted by a large quantity of uniformly distributed small stones, tile and pottery fragments. Whilst the south side of the road was bordered by the fortification, the north was bordered by a low dry-stone wall that was contemporary with and ran parallel to the curtain wall. It was damaged in several places but this did not compromise either the interpretation or the stability of this structure. In some points it was preserved to a height of circa 0.80 m and in the damaged parts the differences between the construction of the foundations and the wall itself could be seen. The foundations were mainly constituted by large blocks of rough-hewn limestone laid flat; the wall itself was made of medium sized flat limestone blocks, roughly worked on the outer face of the wall. The wall was preserved for circa 30 m, the length of the excavation trench. It constituted the back of a series of buildings abutting the fortifications and divided by a road on an north-south alignment at a right-angle to the curtain wall and on the same axis as the stairway linking the walkway along the curtain wall to the centre of the settlement. At present the function of these structures remains uncertain.

The archaeological investigations undertaken at Muro Tenente in 2009 foresaw (1) a series of surveys in the zone immediately to the east of the fortified area, aimed at checking the archaeological sites previously found; (2) a trench inside the fortified area, aimed at the study of the internal defensive wall and the collection of new data regarding its dating, phases of use and the various construction techniques used. The later phases of the curtain wall, probably of post 3rd century B.C. date, was identified in the eastern part of the trench. Here, a course of large irregular, rough-hewn limestone blocks was preserved on the side facing the lower city. The latest wall was built on an earlier wall, on a slightly different alignment. Between the end of the 4th and the beginning of the 3rd century B.C. the curtain wall had a well-defined structure. In the eastern part of the trench a stretch of wall was exposed on a north-east/south-west alignment, in perfect correspondence with that investigated in the 1990s. The western part of this wall had not survived, probably due to the slope towards the south-east, which had been suggested by the line of the collapses and recent agricultural work. In the western part of the trench another stretch of wall was exposed, slightly collapsed and on a north-south alignment. The two curtain walls were linked by a rectangular structure, built of carefully placed limston blocks. The shape and size of the structure suggest it was a rectangular tower. The presence of numerous tiles suggests it roofed with these materials. It is interesting to note that the inner walls of this phase were coeval with the external fortifications, which date to a period prior to the Roman conquest. The settlement’s central zone may have been further protected because it was the centre of important political, social and perhaps even religious functions. The curtain wall with the tower was built on top of an earlier wall. The latter belonged to the third phase of the internal fortifications and was built, abutting the terrain, with large limestone blocks. This means that the centre of the settlement was at a higher level than the rest. In fact, it is still possible to see how the difference in height between the centre and outer areas reaches 5 m3. In order to ensure that the difference in height between north and south did not create problems for the wall’s construction large un-worked stones were placed against the foundation trench. The earliest curtain wall functioned as terracing and surrounded the archaic settlement. It may even have been in place in the Iron Age.

The 2010 Dutch excavations on the Messapian site of Muro Tenente concentrated on two objectives: 1. continuation of the excavation of the inner curtain wall, begun the previous year, the aim being to further clarify the diverse construction phases of the defensive structure, in particular those denominated in 2009 phases 2 and 3. The latest phase (3) of the curtain wall, probably post-dating the 3rd century B.C., was identified in the eastern part of the trench. Here, a course of large, irregular calcarenite blocks was preserved. The blocks had been very slightly squared on the side facing towards the lower part of the town. The latest wall was built on top of the earlier one, on a very slightly different alignment. In phase 2, between the end of the 4th-beginning of the 3rd century B.C. the curtain wall had a well-defined form. In the eastern part of the trench a section of wall on a north-east/south-west alignment came to light, which corresponded perfectly with that investigated in the 1990s. In the western part of the trench another section of wall was exposed, slightly collapsed and on a north-south alignment. The two curtain walls were linked by a very carefully- built rectangular structure, in calcarenite stones, probably a rectangular tower. A layer of collapse comprising stones mixed with numerous tiles was removed from the central part of the trench relating to the second construction phase of the walls, close to the rectangular tower. The finds comprised cooking ware pottery and a loom weight, indicating this as a residential zone and do not seem to relate to a defensive structure. The accumulation of stones may be explained as an intentional dump of materials to level the terrain prior to the building of the latest structure (30.018), or a short period of abandonment and a slight slippage of materials from the central area of the settlement (which must have been only a few metres away) on a higher level than the base of the fortifications. 2. checking of the continuation of the inner curtain wall by opening a new trench (n. 42), positioned at about 100 m west of trench 30. Here, a monumental rectangular structure (5.05 x 2.95 m) was uncovered, orientated in a north-south direction and built of large, rectangular calcarenite blocks. Only the foundations were preserved, two courses deep (except for the north-eastern part where only one course survived). The surface of the blocks showed plough damage, the grooves running north-west/south-east and north north-east/south south-west. The north-eastern part had been removed by recent interventions. The blocks were of various sizes and some, at the north corners, jutted out from the rest of the building. All were very precisely squared and accurately positioned one next to the other without mortar. The construction technique, dimensions and materials used are very new elements with respect to the archaeological structures investigated at Muro Tenente to date. Moreover, these characteristics seem to exclude that this building had a domestic function or was part of a productive structure. It may be suggested that this was a monumental structure of substantial size (at least in comparison to other structures on the site). Finds of such objects as a fragment of column capital, but also of two bronze vessel handles seems to support the idea that this was a building of some importance. Archaeological and art-historical comparisons suggest that it was a _naiskos_, a small temple with aedicule on a podium. This is a building associated with funerary ritual and private cult, which spread in southern Italy from the end of the 4th century onwards.

There were two phases to the 2016 excavations on the site of Muro Tenente, undertaken by Amsterdam Free University. Phase one involved a magnetometer survey, while the second saw the opening of two excavation areas to check the previously collected data and continue investigation of the settlement’s inner circuit wall. These investigations provided a wider vision of the inner, and earliest, fortification on the site, and also uncovered several previously unknown structures. The magnetometer survey, using a Fluxgate Geoscan FM 256 gradiometer, covered as area of c. 16,800 m2, situated in the central-southern quadrant of the site. Despite the presence of several anomalies caused by the large amount of modern detritus in the area, a large road and probable associated structures were identified. The road, c. 5 m wide, seemed to border the south side of the acropolis and continue to the west, forking at the latter’s south-west corner. The two trenches confirmed these results and continued the investigation of the inner defensive circuit and its relationship with the so-called lower city. The first, trench 43, c. 800 m2, was opened on the southern slope of the acropolis, parting from the inner fortification wall uncovered in 2009 and reaching almost as far as the south-west corner of the topographical survey. Starting from the northern part of the trench, the complete line of the inner fortification was exposed, although not fully excavated. So far, no towers have been discovered like the Hellenistic structure excavated in previous campaigns. The wall was in a very bad state of preservation, damaged almost down to foundation level mainly by modern agricultural activity, or perhaps dismantled in order to reuse the blocks. The presence of grey ware pottery in the layers abutting the wall suggests the area was occupied much later than the beginning of the 3rd century BC, to which the final phase of the defensive wall dates. The discovery of a large amount of such late pottery must relate to the primary contexts, such as buildings and floor levels. The building of the road visible in the geophysics survey, probably in the 1st century B.C., must have disturbed the area, removing both the rubble of the Hellenistic period and probably the 2nd century layers (two Roman coins were found in the razing of the Hellenistic walls). The creation of this large road is evidence that the site was still occupied in the 1st century, even though it had lost its urban characteristics. A U-shaped building was identified to the south of the curtain wall, in the western part of the trench. It opened to the east and the internal walls were built of large rectangular limestone blocks. A fragment of a choroplastic, a female head, was found in this structure, which seemed to have two phases. Considering its shape, size, and the associated finds, it may be suggested that this building had a cult function; this will need to be clarified in subsequent campaigns. South of the road, three small rooms belonging to what was probably a domestic building were documented, but not excavated. The building continued beyond the south section. It is also interesting to note that all the Hellenistic buildings were parallel to the 1st century A.D. road, probably because it followed the line of the earlier 4th-3rd century one. The second trench, denominated 44, covered c. 600 m2 and was opened to the west of the first one, with the aim of investigating the anomalies recorded by the magnetometer survey. A stratigraphic sequence similar to that in the previous trench was documented. In fact, the latest occupation evidence probably dates to the 1st century B.C. and consisted of the continuation of the road found in trench 43. Some badly preserved walls, dating to the same period, can be interpreted (based on the associated finds) as belonging to a rustic/rural house. Contrary to what was documented in the trench on the southern slope of the acropolis, the 2nd century contexts were significant. In the north-eastern corner of the trench there were two walls, c. 50 cm wide, built of stones forming the south-eastern corner of a large structure. To the south, this building was connected to a crushed-tufa road that was obliterated by the 1st century road, while to the west _basoli_ with traces of cart tracks running north-south were present. The abandonment layers of this structure contained fragments of yellow wall plaster. Evidence of craft-working activity were found close to this building, probably iron-working and the transformation of agricultural products, as seems to be indicated by the plastered vat to the east of trench 44, already excavated in 2011. The importance of this evidence lies in the possibility of gaining a better understanding of the transformations that led this flourishing Messapian town to be abandoned and then become part of a Roman _latifundium_, as the presence of the large late Republican building, probably a rural villa, suggests.

This season, Amsterdam University’s excavations concentrated on a cult building found in 2016 in trench 43. It was decided to further investigate the earliest phases of the building (relating to those that were destroyed at the end of the 3rd century B.C.). Therefore, several areas inside and outside the structure were investigated. Deposits were excavated to the east of the temple that mainly consisted of large stones that probably came from the collapse of the city’s inner fortifications, situated close to the excavation area and heavily disturbed by agricultural activity. To the west, the excavation continued of the so-called altar identified in 2017. The situation uncovered here finds interesting parallels with what was discovered at Castro. Underneath the podium of the 2nd century B.C. building the excavation of the interior of the cult building revealed traces of the re-consecration of the area via the deposition of _bucrania_. A large hearth with animal bones was found in the building’s westernmost room, probably used for cooking food. Interesting finds regarding the reconstruction of the space surrounding the cult area were documented south of the area with the clear monumentalisation of the spaces through the use of stone floors and the excavation of a circular well, also lined with stone.