Following the levelling of an area that is to undergo development the substantial remains of a rural settlement came to light. The site is positioned close to the s.s Braccianese Claudia at a point where this modern road follows the line of the ancient via Clodia. The remains consist of a series of pits in the bed-rock (Tufo di Vigna di Valle), visible along the edge of several trenches. The pits run parallel to each other on a NE/ SW axis. Some certainly housed dolia, one of which is still in situ, and were therefore pertinent to the storeage of cereals or other dry goods. Among the surface finds, that include numerous tiles and some imbrices of the Republican period, there were also fragments of dolia, amphora and ceramic cooking wares. During excavation a volcanic stone cubilium and a lead element for repairs to pottery, shaped like a double swallow tail, were also recovered. The latter has parallels in the territory of Caere in an analogous context where abandonment dates to around the 1st century A.D.. In proximity to the settlement an underground cuniculum attests the occupation of the area before romanisation. (Roberto Manigrasso)