The Fondo Manca is situated in the locality of Convento on the northern edge of Soleto, north of the convent of the Madonna delle Grazie. It is an area of communal land destined to be parcelled out for construction purposes. Upon the request of the mayor, R. Saracino, a watching brief was undertaken which identified structures relating to Messapian houses in the northern part of the fondo, along via Macchiavelli. In the southern part of the area two modern cisterns and a small Messapian midden were identified. Despite its position within the Messapian walls, most of this terrain was dedicated to agriculture or pasture.

The exploration of the fondo Manca, begun in 2000, was completed. The only identified structures were the foundations of a Messapian house constituted by 7 blocks of carparo stone and a threshold. The presumed collapse of the roof, seen in 2000, turned out to be a dump of material containing not only roof tiles but many fragments of amphorae and containers. The edge of the dump was parallel (at circa 2.5 m) to the wall surrounding the fondo. The dump was sealed by cement deposits. The layer below contained plastic. The Messapian house thus seems to have been removed by mechanical diggers during the widening of via Macchiavelli, between 1980 and 1982. The only surviving wall provided useful topographical data: the line of the road on which it stood is known from the 1992 excavations in the nearby locality of Quattrare (Montinaro property).