Soundings were made over a vast area during construction work for the new Acqua di Nepi production plant (in Sprofondo, in the community of Nepi). The excavation brought to light the remains of agricultural activities from different phases of the Republican period. The features, the product of intensive farming, consisted of deep trenches with drains at the base filled with various materials, in some cases bricks and in others stone chips. On the basis of the width, depth and length of the trenches, it is possible to suggest a promiscuous cultivation of vines. The scarce materials discovered, including black glaze ware, cooking and coarsewares, are generically datable to the third-second century BC; thus it is not possible to identify the chronological caesura between the two types of drain. (Daniela Rizzo-Lucia Suaria)