In 2009 excavation was completed of the two rural settlements identified by a survey: sites A and M, the first a “large” site (5000-8000 m2), the second of medium size (3000-4000 m2).

On site A the rural villa was seen to have a linear development on a east-west alignment, its main section being circa 40 m long. It was constituted by two buildings separated by an open-air passageway with a small channel. The western nucleus comprised a rustic aula divided by two naves with two pilasters (basilica type) and another three rooms (unified in a later phase), partially paved with a mosaic of large white tesserae. The eastern building comprised two large rustic rooms with beaten earth floors. North of the villa a series of pathways made of fragmented brick/tile emerged, leading to other small outbuildings of which only patches of wall were preserved. The complex was bordered by a perimeter wall identified on the east and west sides. The complex dates to the early imperial period and was occupied until the 4th-5th century A.D.

Site M was a structure specialising in stock-raising and was also delimited by an enclosure. The complex comprised a modest dwelling, separate production and storage structures and a large stall/sheepfold (330 m2). The archaeological data confirmed the important role of stock-raising in the
economy of Altinum, already known from the literary sources. The 2009 investigation involved the southern sector (inside and outside the complex), where walls emerged whose function was to regulate the movement of the livestock, a probable underground silo for grain storage, small conduits for the water supply which came together in an artificial channel probably deriving from the paleo-riverbed of the Canna, a small water course running to the south of the complex. A number of trial trenches dug in the northern sector confirmed the presence, also on this side, of the enclosure wall and, further north, of a system of small parallel ditches on a north-south alignment, probably linked to the agricultural organisation of the surrounding territory.

During the excavation samples were taken for future geo-archaeological, chemical and paleo-botanical analyses, destined to provide further information regarding both the functional characteristics of the complex and the environment.