Between October and November 2010, the first excavation campaign took place in the locality of Pagliarone near Otranto, on a rise west of lake Alimini Grande. The excavation is part of a research project investigating the entire area of the Alimini lakes, settlement dynamics in antiquity and the environmental history of the two basins (Alimini Lake Project – PAL). This is a joint project between Salento University and the Istituciòn Milà y Fontanas. The excavation investigated an area where a survey found Byzantine and Angevin pottery, a coin of Heraclius (610-614 A.D.) and noted the presence of several grain pits. Two trenches, A and B, were opened in the proximity of rock-cut rooms and abutting a line of un-worked stones. The removal of the humus in both trenches revealed that the line of stones was probably a post-medieval dry-stone structure delimiting the hill summit. In trench A, the excavation reached a bank of rock along the south side of which there were traces of modern agricultural activity. The only evidence of earlier activity was a number of circular cuts in the rock bank situated along the southern edge of the trench. The pottery finds indicated that the area was occupied in the Byzantine period between the 8th-9th century, with a few fragments attributable to the 11th century. Trench B was opened in correspondence with a crypt, and incorporated the remains of the dry-stone wall also seen in trench A. The wall was built on top of an accumulation of materials datable to the late medieval period (13th-14th century), corresponding with the site’s abandonment. These accumulations covered a series of walls belonging to a church that was already abandoned by the end of the 13th century. The church, orientated east-west, had a apse with a double line of ashlar blocks. Its southern perimeter wall was traced for 4.50 m and was 0.60 m wide, built with a double facing of un-worked limestone alternating with ashlar blocks. The wall was interrupted to the west, where an outcrop of the natural bed-rock, probably used within the construction, was uncovered. The western perimeter wall was not identified. To the south of the southern wall, a structure in parallelepiped blocks was partially excavated. This was probably a room built abutting the church. It had a floor of limestone and calcarenite basoli on top of which lay the collapse of its tile roof. During the excavation, a survey was made of the rock-cut space partially situated below the church. This was probably an earlier rock-cut church with two entrances, still visible, one on the west and one on the north side. The crypt (5.40 x 4 m) had a sort of “apse” cut into the rock on the east side and niches along the north and south sides. Incised crosses and patches of fresco were preserved on the walls.

The 2012 campaign concentrated on the survey of the archaeological remains visible around the lake of Alimini Grande and core sampling around its edges. _The survey_ Archaeological material was present across the low hill (8-9 m a.s.l) overlooking the western shore of Alimini Grande. The remains extended over a surface of about 1.2 hectares. Visible at the site’s northern edge was the eastern continuation of a row of limestone blocks, partially investigated in 2010, running parallel to the bed of the _Zuddea_ channel. Another row of blocks, partially hidden by vegetation, was preserved to the west of the church excavated in 2010. The visible part measured c. 13 m and was orientated east-west except for the westernmost end which seemed to curve towards the south. Two grain pits/cisterns were found in the central and upper parts of the site. Both were cut into the outcropping bedrock and were sub-circular at the top and had a bell-shaped profile. The survey identified diverse types of pottery: the most representative class was kitchen-ware of Byzantine date, mainly cooking pots in orange or greyish clay. Beyond the rise, two trenches were opened and the survey was extended into the surrounding fields with the aim of defining the size of the settlement in the locality of Pagliarone. The survey found two other scatters of material a few metres from that described above. These produced mainly medieval pottery, seemingly coeval with the material found on the site on top of the rise. _Core sampling_ The sediment core sample (denominated ALI 2), taken close to the Alimini Grande Lake and the overlooking medieval settlement of Loc. Pagliarone, used a continuous percussion corer able to remove marsh sediment without interruption or contamination. A sedimentary sequence of c. 9 m was recovered, mainly comprising peats of marsh origin and, in the lower part, sands whose characteristics suggest them to be of Aeolian origin. Following a first analysis of the ALI 2 stratigraphy undertaken in the field, it is possible to suggest that the entire sequence may be ascribed to the last 12,000 years.