The site is samnite settlement characterized by the presence of polygonal town walls, with three gates. The enclosed area covers almost 50 hectares. The area covered by archaeological investigation relates to a part of the settlement where a building on a platform, also of polygonal construction, came to light. The platform measures 8.25x16.5 metres, equal to 30x60 oscan feet. The area was completely abandoned after the Social War and a new building was constructed during the Augustan period on the remains of the settlement. Some of the outer elements of this construction have been uncovered. (Gianfranco De Benedittis)

The excavation involves an area of 100 x 100 m in the territory of Baranello. The zone is characterised by the presence of a circuit of polygonal walls almost 3 km long enclosing an area of almost 50 hectares. The data collected indicates that the area was occupied as early as the 4th century B.C. At the end of this century the perimeter wall, with three “sceo” type defensive gates, was built. During the Social War the settlement underwent a reduction in size, however sporadic finds suggest that occupation was continuous until the medieval period, when, on the highest part, Monte Vairano, a castle was built by the Knights Templar. Destroyed before the mid 14th century, only the outer perimeter and some traces of the interior walls remain. The interior of the Samnite settlement, despite the sloping terrain, presents wide level areas created through the construction of sustaining walls at the edge of the areas themselves, where the dwellings were probably situated. Excavations in previous years revealed evidence of various roads which converge on this area. Moreover, apart from the structures already brought to light, including a cistern with brick walls over 6 m deep, the remains of a building were uncovered whose central position and size (8 x 16 m) seem to indicate was of a public nature. The site is already known for its contribution to providing information about Italic and Samnite settlements form between the 4th and 1st centuries B.C. (MiBAC)

The excavations identified nine contexts distributed throughout the various rooms of building “C”; US1 (caused by downwash, covering a broad chronological span) appears to be uniformly distributed throughout the whole of building “C”, interpreted as an italic type domus. The average thickness of the deposit is no more than one metre and is characterized by compact brown earth. US 2 was identified throughout the entire quadrant, the deposit is however uneven both as regards its thickness and the typology and quantity of material (limited mainly to fragments of tile in the upper levels of the quadrant mixed with clayey brown earth, and with large unworked blocks of stone in the lower part). The interface of US2 was identified throughout almost the entire excavated area. Today it is possible to identify the outer perimeter of the entire building which, in the light of the new information, is much larger than previously thought; circa 500 sq.m. If one excludes the SE corner, where excavations still not have been carried out, the structure is approximately square in plan (22 x 19,5m). The southern side, where a room is missing, measures 16,5m, whereas that immediately to the north measures 19,5m, and the western side measures 22m. The absence of a room in the corner is perhaps due to the need to adapt the structure to the changes in the natural ground level. The USM are distributed according to room, each of which is given a progressive alphabetical letter. It is worth noting that, with the exception of some slight differences which need to be checked, the measurements result in a surface area of 70 x 80 oscan feet (shortest side: 60 oscan feet (16,50m.)). The majority of the material recovered consists of domestic pottery and vernice nera, as well as some minute fragments of sigillata. Although the detailed study of the material has still to be completed, this seems to indicate that at least some of the rooms were also in use in the imperial period. Both the sigillata and the domestic wares indicate a frequentation into the 3rd century AD or a little after.

In the summer of 2010 excavations restarted on building C, an Italic _domus_ situated at a short distance from the _horreum_ restored in 2006. It was not possible to complete the excavation of all the rooms. However, judging from the stratigraphy and the presence of blocking in some of the walls, it appeared likely that following the 1st century B.C. crisis some rooms of the Hellenistic house were reoccupied for a period some time between the 1st and 4th century A.D.