Excavations took place in the area of the late antique villa of Palazzo Pignano as part of a three-year concession (2017-2019). Four trenches were opened, D, E, F, and G. Trench D was opened in the southern sector of the _pars_ _dominica_ in the peristyle. The excavation area measured 7.12 m N-S and 4.75 m E-W and reached a maximum depth of 1.68 m below the present ground surface. Below the late medieval occupation levels, the excavations exposed a robber trench on a north-south alignment, the result of the removal of a wide wall, perhaps the southern perimeter of a paved room, of which a patch of cobblestone make-up was uncovered in 1999. Trench E was opened in correspondence with the southernmost stretch of the eastern foundation of a _xystus_, also in the _pars_ _domenica_, in order to check for the presence of any column bases. Trench F involved the reopening of part of the 2016 excavations in the _pars_ _rustica_, and the opening of a new sector further west. The foundations of two perimeter walls belonging to two different rooms that were parallel to each other. The foundations were cut by two ditches/trenches on a north-south alignment. The fill of one of the trenches contained a fragment of ARS, several glass fragments, a fragment of glazed mortaria and a small bronze coin datable to about the mid 5th century A.D. A hole containing c. 6,000 loose mosaic tesserae was found close to the western edge of the excavation area. Trench G was also opened in the _pars_ _rustica _, by the apsidal room excavated last year. Here, a series of interventions were identified that took place between the first half of the 4th and the 5th century A.D. The earliest phase was represented by a series of small postholes, at present interpreted as housings for the timber elements of scaffolding used during the construction of the walls of the _aula_ or for fixing in place timber-built machinery. Another period of use of the area followed when a vast loose foundation of cobblestones and brick/tile was created. Fragments of ARS D, a fragment from a large soapstone vessel, a soapstone rim fragment and an AE4 dating to the second half of the 4th-early/mid 5th century A.D. were found in this foundation, thus offering a _terminus_ _post_ _quem_ for its construction.

Nei mesi di maggio e settembre 2018 sono riprese le indagini archeologiche nell’area della villa tardoantica di Palazzo Pignano in regime di concessione di scavo triennale (2017-2019). Sono stati aperti tre aree di indagine (H, I, L) tutte concentrate nella cd. ala abitativa e rustica della villa tardoantica. Il primo saggio (H) è stato posizionato a n-o della grande aula absidata messa in luce nel 1970; il secondo (I) a sud del grande horreum, sempre scoperto nel 1970; il terzo (L) tra quest’ultimo e la grande aula absidata. I risultati di maggiore interesse sono emersi dallo scavo nei saggi H e L, nei quali sono state riconosciute 5 macro-fasi edilizie che si sono succedute dalla prima e media età imperiale (seconda metà I – primi decenni del III sec. d.C.) sino alla tardoantica (seconda metà del IV/ prima metà V sec. d.C.). In particolare, riguardo a quanto già si conosceva del sito, è stato possibile identificare una fase di media età imperiale, caratterizzata dalla presenza di strutture per il trattamento e la conservazione di alcune derrate alimentari, come un granaio con pavimento sopraelevato su muretti paralleli e un essiccatoio.