A rural settlement has been identified at Nardiniello, along an ancient road (for the most part still legible) on the watershed between the Mercure-Lao basin and the upper Sinni valley. A small site, slightly over 300 sq.m, it appears to be a farm. It comprises numerous rooms which form two separate buildings with an open space between them. To date five rooms have been excavated in structure A, the largest of which appears to be a courtyard which may have had roofing on one or more sides to protect containers for dry goods storage.
In structure B, situated north of structure A, two rooms have been partially investigated. These were probably fronted by a roof which covered the small circular kiln found under the collapse. The room behind it produced numerous fragments of black glaze ware, mainly open forms such as skyphoi, patere and cups, a fact which may not be purely coincidental. Some of the pottery can be attributed to local kilns. This kiln appears to have produced mainly tiles, judging by the large number of over-fired examples found in the vicinity. Also present were common wares, transport amphora (including one Punic sherd), a single fragment of Red-figure ware, a truncated-cone shaped loom weight and an iron utensil. On the basis of these finds it is possible to date these structures to between the end of the 4th century and the beginning of the 3rd century B.C. (Maria Luisa Nava)