In Sicily, the Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages have long been overshadowed by an adverse historical bias that frames these periods as marked by decline and decadence. This perspective has, in some instances, led to the hasty removal of traces of occupation from these centuries in favour of uncovering the more opulent structures of the Hellenistic and Imperial periods beneath. Such practices have often resulted in the significant loss of information, erasing entire phases of a site's history and producing oversimplified interpretations and gaps in our understanding to this day. In this context, the site of Durrueli provides a particularly compelling case study. Situated a few kilometres northwest of Agrigento, Durrueli is renowned for its magnificent villa maritima, which was extensively excavated between 1979 and 1985 by a Japanese archaeological mission. However, apart from a few preliminary reports, much of the documentation remains unpublished. For a long time, it was assumed that the site was abandoned following the villa’s destruction in the 3rd century AD. Nevertheless, a recent re-analysis of the finds and documentation from the Japanese excavations, conducted as part of a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Fellowship, has uncovered compelling evidence of later phases of occupation. This paper presents the results of the 2024 study season, which identified a 6th- and 7th-century settlement amidst the villa's ruins. This settlement emerges as a node within a broader network of landing places along Sicily's southern coast, as mentioned in contemporary sources. The integrated approach combining archaeological and archaeometric analyses of artefacts—particularly pottery—offers invaluable insights into the daily lives of this community, shedding light on their consumption practices, habits, and needs. Furthermore, the material evidence highlights connections linking such a settlement to various regions of the Mediterranean, spanning the Byzantine domains and extending to African territories already under Umayyad control.