This was the first campaign on the site of Montecchio undertaken by Perugia University. In this phase the investigation looked at the development in antiquity of a part of the territory of Montecchio, mainly concentrating on the land along the Fosso di San Lorenzo, characterised by the presence of a vast necropolis in use between the 7th/6th century B.C. until the late 4th- early 3rd century B.C. The excavations concentrated on the area situated NW of the group of burials identified in the past and which can be visited in the locality of Raiano, where no research had been carried out to date that aimed at the actual understanding of the necropolis’ size. The investigations revealed: 1) a structure c. 7.8 m long, on an east-west alignment, made up of unworked medium sized stones in a dry-stone construction. The most interesting finds were the heavy bucchero, coarse wares, and a few black glaze fragments datable to the late 2nd century-early 1st century B.C., which may constitute the site’s _terminus_ _post_ _quem_. 2) a chamber tomb on a N-S alignment with the entrance facing south, which presented clear traces of collapse, tampering and flooding. During the removal of the dumped layers, a continuation of the underground tomb was identified, whose vault was not completely collapsed. It was excavated in the bedrock (of sedimentary origin) and was entered via a short open-air _dromos_ in counterslope with respect to the hill slope. It had two coaxial chambers with benches, which contained burials without grave goods. All the materials recovered date the tomb to the mid-late 6th century B.C. covering a relatively short period with respect to the other excavated burials; it also denotes the almost complete influence of _Velzna_- Orvieto over this populous area situated on the left bank of the Tiber.

In July, 2019, archaeologists from the University of Perugia and Kent State University in a field on the northwestern area of the necropolis, on a hillside sloping down to the tributary of the Tiber, discovered a ca. 3 x 4 meter quadrangular tomb, constructed of large travertine blocks without the use of mortar. Within the tomb, three long, rectangular cut travertine stones appeared parallel to the side walls and most likely functioned as funerary “benches” upon which the bodies of the deceased were laid, similar to the benches carved into the natural rock in the chamber tombs common to the necropolis. Small vertical stone supports were discovered underlying both of these stones. In addition there was another support stone along the rear wall of the tomb, perhaps to support a wooden shelf for funerary goods, based on comparisons with chamber tombs with stone shelves discovered elsewhere in the necropolis. The long center stone, based on the position and size in comparison to the entrance, was likely used to close the entrance. The bench on the right (eastern) side was thinner, shorter and not perfectely squared like the other bench. Carved on the surface were several cup shaped carvings and small grooves, resembling those found on Etruscan altars; possibly the stone originally was used as an altar and was subsequently repurposed in the tomb as a funeral bed. In front of the tomb’s entrance was a drainage channel, likely constructed after the tomb was opened and a new body deposited sometimes between the fifth and fourth centuries B.C. Probably at that time, it was discovered that the tomb was suffering from flooding, which was true of the majority of tombs discovered in the necropolis. The tomb is quadrangular with an entrance on the south side but the roof and the upper courses of the walls of the structure were not preserved. A triangular travertine block discovered in the drainage channel may have originally been placed above the architrave of the entrance and functioned as the tympanum of the structure, suggesting a gabled roof, so possibly it was a tomba a edicola. Another possibility is a tomba a dado. Although the tomb was damaged by flooding and agricultural activity, and likely robbed in antiquity of its most impressive artifacts, a great quantity and variety of ceramic and metal items, as well as human bones were found. Pottery dating from the sixth to the late fifth/beginning of the fourth centuries B.C. included many fine wares such as Etruscan bucchero and painted wares, imported Attic black figure, and minaturistic forms, including Etrusco-Corinthian examples. Remarkable metal artifacts included iron spits, circular bronze studs for wooden furniture, a silver fibula, a bronze ring, and a trove of iron weapons. Close to or beneath the stone benches were found a decorative bronze disc with a central black gemstone, a gold ring with an engraved image of a fantastic animal, likely a hippocamp, and the head of an iron scepter with a hole for the wooden shaft.