More than 650 feet (200 meters) inside a cave in Valencia, daylight disappears, stone walls close in, and small pools gather water trickling through underground passages. Nearly 2,000 years ago, Roman visitors made the same journey into Cova Dones. They left offerings in the water and carved words into the chamber’s walls and ceiling.
Researchers have now documented at least 120 Latin inscriptions, far more than the 15 previously known. Most date to the first and second centuries A.D. Together, they suggest Cova Dones was an organized sanctuary where women worshiped a mysterious goddess known as Domina, or “the Lady.”
“Preliminary results indicate that Cova Dones was a cave-sanctuary frequented by women, since several female names appear among the inscriptions documented so far,” said the research team in a translated press release.
Roman Inscriptions Reveal Women’s Role at Cova Dones
The inscriptions are concentrated in a chamber researchers call the “Roman Sanctuary,” discovered in 2024. Several female names appear among the texts, offering unusually direct evidence of women’s participation in religious life.
Five votive inscriptions are dedicated to Domina. Three also contain “MALACI,” a previously unknown epithet for a goddess. Its meaning remains uncertain, although researchers suspect it may connect the deity to water — a compelling possibility in a chamber marked by natural pools.
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Explore All OptionsObjects found nearby include rings, a bracelet, chalice-shaped vessels, pottery, animal remains, and numerous spindle whorls. These textile tools were closely associated with women in antiquity and may have been offerings.
“We found numerous spindle whorls at the sanctuary, which likely indicates the offering of spindles, a textile-working tool that, in antiquity, was associated with the female sphere. This fact would fit with the epigraphic evidence pointing to the active participation of women at the sanctuary,” explained co-team lead Virginia Barciela.
Read More: Animal Offerings and Painted Walls Reveal Secrets of the Ancient Roman Cult Site Nida
Evidence Points to an Organized Roman Cult
The repeated dedications and deliberate placement of the inscriptions point to a specific cult with established rituals.
“The existence of at least five inscriptions dedicated to this same deity demonstrates that we are not dealing with sporadic visits for a generic religious purpose, but rather with a specific cult dedicated to a particular deity,” said Sergio García-Dils, professor at UNED-Sevilla. “Likewise, the fact that the texts are concentrated in a specific and delimited area of the cave, away from the entrance, confirms that it is an organized cult.”
If the count holds, Cova Dones could contain more Latin inscriptions than any other known cave-sanctuary in Roman Hispania and potentially the entire Roman Empire. Because the texts and offerings remain together, researchers may be able to reconstruct who visited and what they did there.
Future Excavations Could Reveal More About Domina
Much of Cova Dones awaits detailed study, and many inscriptions still need to be deciphered. Future work will examine the goddess’s unfamiliar epithet, the artifacts, and how rituals changed over time.
Researchers also plan to improve access and safety, create a digital twin of the cave, and finish cataloging its Paleolithic art. Each new inscription could add another voice to the story and bring the women who entered this dark sanctuary nearly two millennia ago further into the light.
“This in situ association of archaeological materials and rock inscriptions in a Roman underground sanctuary is exceptional, and makes Dones a unique site for studying in a comprehensive and interdisciplinary way the ritual dynamics celebrated in the cave over time,” concluded co-team lead Aitor Ruiz-Redondo.
Read More: A 2,500-Year-Old Etruscan Well Began With Bronze Offerings and Ended With Two Human Skeletons
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- This article references information from the University of Alicante: Approximately 120 Latin inscriptions from the Roman era have been discovered in the Cova Dones cave in Valencia.