The stratigraphy and the finds attested the presence of at least two macro-phases of occupation on the site. The lower layers, in contact with the bed-rock, contained material dating to the early Hellenistic period and proto-historic periods, with impasto pottery fragments. However, the nature of this earlier occupation is unknown due to the lack of related structures. _Phase I –presumed late republican-early Imperial “villa”_ A building with local limestone opus reticulatum walls can certainly be attributed to phase I. Scant traces of the foundations were uncovered, at right angles to each other and orientated east-west and north-south which had suffered heavy robbing attested by the presence of isolated blocks and robber trenches. The late Republican occupation was also attested by several levels or contexts that were either disturbed or traces of which were faint, such as those below the floor levels of the later settlement. The Republican period dating (the 2nd century B.C. onwards) was attested both by the pottery finds and coin evidence, in particular a hoard of the mid 2nd century B.C. found in 2008 in the foundation trench of the best-preserved wall. Although, on the basis of the materials, this settlement shows a continuity of occupation until the early Imperial period, it was certainly at its height in the 1st century B.C., as attested by the large quantity of amphorae and grey ware pottery relating to this period. _Phase II – the fishing village_ From the last quarter or end of the 3rd century A.D., as shown by the coin finds (for example in the layers of make up for the foundations) and pottery, the site underwent a conversion and the rebuilding of simple utilitarian structures, with dry-stone walls, beaten-earth floors and roughly-plastered walls. During its life the complex saw a series of rebuilds and modifications of the original layout. Lastly, after a final period of occupation, it was abandoned. In the collapses, partially caused by traumatic events (earthquakes, fires), material mainly dating to the 5th century A.D. was found. The stratigraphic sequence and evidence uncovered suggest the existence of a building (villa?) linked to a landed property (fundus), which grew up in the Republican period (2nd century B.C.), perhaps on top of an earlier settlement, and continued to function until the early empire. Around the second half, or better at the end of the 3rd century A.D. the area was “converted”, probably with new functions, by a substantial phases of building in which simple utilitarian, possibly seasonal productive structures, were erected. It was at its floruit between the end of the 3rd-beginning of the 4th century A.D. It may have been part of an “working vicus”, that is a village dedicated to activities connected with the sea in general, fishing in particular, as attested by the fishing equipment, elements of naval carpentry and the substantial quantity of fish and shell remains which seem to allude to the transformation/working of what was caught, for example the conservation of fish. Lastly, in the late antique period (5th-beginning of the 6th century A.D.) the village was abandoned and the area was transformed into agricultural land. _Underwater archaeology_ As part of the same project “Il Paesaggio come museo. Archeologia della costa di Nardò”, a short campaign of underwater survey was carried out in the waters of Nardò and Porto Ceasareo which identified several pieces of evidence: the remains of a Hellenistic cargo boat by the Scogli delle tre Sorelle, S. Caterina di Nardò; a beached wreck and a structure in loose stones, presumibly proto-historic, in the marine reserve of Porto Cesareo; amphorae (the remains of a late Republican cargo?) at Punta Lea, Porto Selvaggio (Nardò), a mile off the coast.