Selva di Malano

Selva di Malano is an archaeological site in the Cimini Mountains foothills between Soriano nel Cimino and Bomarzo in Lazio, central Italy. The wild woodland contains rock-cut monuments carved from volcanic tuff, including the Sasso del Predicatore -- an ovoid boulder with an altar on its flattened top accessed by carved steps. Scholars believe the Etruscan altars served for religious rites such as augury (bird-flight divination) and astronomical observation. Later Roman additions include the tombe a dado (dice tombs) and the Ara Cubica, a cube-shaped sepulchral memorial. The site represents the highest known concentration of Etruscan-Roman rock monuments still preserved.