The excavations covered an area of c. 140 m2 on a low prominence of a ridge in the Lambro valley. The collapse of an elliptical structure, c. 16 x 14m, was uncovered. The structure had a wall with facings of irregular stone blocks and core of stone chips, 1.80/1.90 m wide on the south-west side, and 1.20/1.40 m wide along the remaining perimeter. About half of the structure’s interior was excavated, revealing two rectilinear structures defining a room. The next campaign should produce a better plan, when the collapse left in place to protect the lower layers will be removed. Ancient and modern robbing made it possible to reach another level of collapse, made up of unbaked pale clay bricks, probably datable to the 4th century B.C. The terracotta votives found both in the superficial collapse and during surface survey can be attributed to the same period, and suggest the presence of a sanctuary. The next campaigns will also define the site’s function in the earliest phase, to date only attested by impasto and painted pottery of the 7th ? – 6th centuries B.C.

Excavation continued inside the 180 m2 elliptical structure built of large irregular sandstone blocks, identified in 2017 on the hill crest on the west side of the Lambro valley. The stratigraphic situation was complex and disturbed in several places by modern illegal digging, which slowed down the foreseen activities. However, the excavations made it possible to reconstruct in detail the deposition of an interesting collapse from the structure’s pisé walls. Part of the collapse owes it preservation to prolonged exposure to the moderate indirect heat from a late antique kiln built in the destruction levels, which was protected from the winds by the masonry footings of the earlier perimeter walls, still standing in the mid 5th century A.D. The kiln produces flat tiles, imbrices and lamps. The perimeter and internal walls of the elliptical structure can now be attributed to a single ancient construction phase, as the rectilinear walls and spatial division indicate they supported a roof, probably with three parts. The large quantity of tile in the destruction layers relate to a roof with three different construction phases, for which imported materials, probably from Calabria, were also used. As things stand, the possible stratigraphic connections between the structures and a modest quantity of materials dating to the late 7th-6th century B.C. has yet to be made. The earliest and intact occupation levels have not been reached, but fragments of terracotta votives recovered from the disturbed layers support the previously made suggestion that this was a cult site, probably dedicated to a female divinity. To date, there are no parallels in Magna Graecia, for the building’s typology and clearly peripheral position, therefore, the continuation of this research is of great importance for clarifying the territorial dynamics and border problems that involved the Greeks, and previously firstly the Enotrians and later the Lucanians.