The watching brief on the construction of a house led to the identification of archaeological remains below a substantial alluvial layer. These remains were part of the Roman forum of Aquae Statiellae, for which it has not yet been possible to establish whether it was a simple forum or one with a double plan. The stratigraphy was about 1.50-1.70 m deep.

Excavations identified a sequence of phases datable to between the Roman (second half of the 1st century B.C.-first half of the 1st century A.D.) and medieval periods. Period 1: the monumental complex of the forum was built on an open area free of earlier structures. Its limestone (not local) slab paving was only preserved at the edges of the excavation area. Its make up was formed by large cobbles from the river Bormida, bedded in a sand and gravel deposit, and covered by a layer of sand.

Comparisons with analogous finds suggest that the forum was probably built between the second half of the 1st century B.C. and the first half of the 1st century A.D. A square foundation was found in the south-eastern corner of the area, built of cobbles and mortar on a north-east/south-west alignment, like the paving slabs. This structure may be interpreted as the remains of a monumental base, a suggestion confirmed by the discovery nearby of a bronze finger from a life-size statue. Period 2: During the 3rd-4th centuries A.D., the forum was abandoned and the central and western areas of its paving were covered with a clayey deposit mixed with limestone fragments resulting from the gradual flaking of the paving slabs. In the eastern part, where the paving was better-preserved, there was a sandy-clay deposit mixed with fragments of brick/tile, stone blocks and cobbles, functioning as levelling and drainage. Two sections of dry-stone structures made of small blocks, uncovered in the western most side of the excavation, were part of a room on a different alignment from the Roman urban layout.

The abandonment phase was covered by a deep blackish-brown clay deposit, which micro-morphological analyses has classified as “dark earth”, a deposit gradually formed by repeated accumulations of rubbish rich in organic materials, in a sector that had become ruralised as the result of the town’s contraction. Period 3: a road 2.5 m wide on a north-west/south-east alignment was built using brick/tile fragments and small cobbles. Its alignment suggests it may have been the link between the main road, the ancient via Aemelia Scauri (still in use) and the church of S. Pietro. An earth grave was uncovered on the southern edge of the area (t.1), on the same alignment as the road. This was probably part of the church cemetery (early medieval in date). Period 4: Heavy flooding from the Medrio torrent deposited alluvial material over the area following which it was only used for agricultural activity. The upper levels constituted by rubble and paving from the demolished buildings, contained no material earlier than the 13th century.