At the foot of the hill of Monte Li Santi, a few metres from the course of the Treja, the ruins of some structures built of square blocks of tuff appear: they are the ruins of the ancient sanctuary of “Monte Li Santi – Le Rote”. Since 1985, this archaeological site has provided evidence that there was an important temple here, which was constantly visited from the 6th to the 2nd century BC and was dedicated to fertility, childbirth and married life in general. During the excavations, more than 300 painted masks, numerous terracotta heads and a surprising series of iron keys and skewers were found. The artefacts were then housed in the laboratory of the Museo Civico Archeologico-Virtuale di Narce (MAVNA) in Mazzano Romano, where they are currently on display.
It was an ancient custom to create cemeteries along roads and around inhabited areas of large cities. The necropolis of Monte Li Santi in Cavone is located directly along a major road cut into the tuff, a “cava” road, from which the name “Cavone” may derive. The necropolis was probably in use since the middle of the 7th century BC, as evidenced by a pit tomb found during the first excavations at the end of the 19th century. The peak of use was between the 6th and 4th centuries BC, when numerous chamber tombs with rock facades (sculpted in tuff) were created. The tombs generally have a small antechamber and a main chamber with niches dug into the wall, which were closed with tiles after the burial of the deceased. A recent project has reopened three burial chambers with decorated entrances.