On the Riccardi property, situated within the colony’s territory, the excavation of site M produced new information regarding ancient land reclamation in the area. Parallel drainage channels and several groups of tombs, of which a total of 24 burials were recovered, came to light. These tombs were arranged on either side of the channel and organizzed in such a way that each family nucleus had its own space. Two family groups have been identified on the northern side of the channel, each arranged on a different orientation. The positioning of the tombs seem to have been determined by the topography of the area. One group is certainly layed out with reference to the channel, the other, perhaps, takes into account a residual section of an ancient tratturo, the line of which is taken up by the modern road from Metaponto to Matera (ss 175). Old land -register maps show the tratturo leading from Metaponto to Miglionico, following the valley bottom and continuing up to the inland terraces.
The necropolis produced tomb groups of which the earliest date to the mid to second half of the 5th century B.C. Funerary use of the area, at least in the excavated section, ends in the second half of the 4th century B.C.-beginning of the 3rd century B.C. The earliest burials, which document the phase in which the drainage channels were put in place, contained a Corinthian type A amphora, two black glaze lekythoi with palmette motifs on the shoulder and a black glaze Ionic B2 kylix. This vessel has a graffitto on the body – the name SIMAS with the san from the alphabet in use in the Achaean colonies, the mi “a bandiera” and the iota formed by four strokes. The other tomb group is recognizable as female as its contents belong specifically to the mundus muliebris: spatula, tweezers, a mirror, fibulae. The figured vases are miniaturistic, the most common decoration being an owl. These characteristics are typical of production of the Pisticci painter and his school. (Maria Luisa Nava)