Investigations on the site of Montessoro (Isola del Cantone-Ge) are part of a project begun in 2009 by Turin University’s department of Medieval Archaeology studying the late antique and medieval archaeology in the territory of the Valle Scrivia. The research objective for this site is the study of the occupation of the territory in a period – the late antique – to date little known in the area. The second excavation campaign, nine weeks in 2010, explored the terraced area on the hillside above the present town of Montessoro, situated by the castle built in the 14th century by the Spinola, at a height of 660 m a.s.l. Here, in 2009, the remains of four buildings were uncovered. This campaign, covering an area of 300 m2 on the plateau, had brought to light part of a rural settlement, probably associated with the road network linking Genoa to Libarna and the centres on the plain. The settlement can be dated to between the end of the Republican and the beginning of the Imperial period and was permanently re-occupied between the 4th-6th century A.D. The 2010 investigation aimed to resolve various questions emerging from the previous campaign, and followed two parallel strategies: the extension of the excavation area, towards the north-east and west, which thus reached a total of 500 m2, with the aim of defining the actual extension of the site; the deepening of the stratigraphic excavations down to the bottom of the sequence in the north-eastern sector, in order to gain a fuller understanding of the site’s chronological, functional, socio-economic and cultural dynamics.

Above all, the excavations demonstrated how far modern agricultural activity had modified the site’s morphology. The extension to the north, in the belt between the plateau occupied by the settlement and the agricultural terrace above, brought to light, inside Building 3, a section of stratigraphy associated with the east and north perimeters, here preserved to circa one metre in height. Outside the building, the original surface of the hill slope, unaffected by the agricultural interventions which had provoked the levelling of the area down hill, was exposed. The 2010 excavations completely uncovered Buildings 2 and 3 characterised, as hypothesised in 2009, by two distinct construction phases which occurred, without interruption, between the 4th-5th century A.D. The investigation defined the plan of Building 5, identified in 2009, probably built between the end of the Republican period and the beginning of the Imperial period. Part of its east and north perimeter walls were found at foundation level together with several post holes. However, the data is still not sufficient for the formulation of suggestions regarding the function and use of this structure. Finally, part of a structure (Building 6) on a different alignment from the rest of the settlement was identified. Its construction may pre-date the enlargement of Building 3. Further exploration will be undertaken in 2011.