The excavation at Longano began in 2007 on the site where the bronze hieratical mask was found. A settlement site of great interest was identified. Surface finds included materials ranging in date from the early Bronze Age to the 4th century B.C. The remains of a hut comprising a beaten gravel floor, a hearth and a post hole were uncovered in the first trench. Numerous fragments of dolia and other pottery was found just below the ground surface. A funerary area was also uncovered, comprising only two “a cassone” burials, an infant and an adult, both without grave goods. Important fragments of pottery typical of the Apennine culture were found throughout the area, as well as spindle whorls dating to the proto-Villanovan period.

The site stands on a natural terrace overlooking the river Lorda, along one of the routes towards the Matese mountains, in an area with numerous springs. Here, an exceptional find came to light by chance, a mask made of bronze lamina. It is suggested that it had a ritual function relating to ceremonies and propitiatory rites connected to important events or wars, and would have been worn by an important member of the community. The stylistic characteristics, similar to artefacts from Magna Graecia and Etruria, suggest a date of between the 6th and 4th century B.C. Investigations in the area have failed to define the context of this find. In the northern part of the area, a prehistoric settlement, occupied for a long period from the middle Bronze Age onwards, was partially explored. Two probable dwellings were identified cut into a cobblestone surface. The sub-circular (2.35 x 2.05 m) and polygonal (2.40 x 1.20) pits were filled by a burnt deposit containing fragments of cooking stands, large containers for dry foodstuffs and pottery attributable to the Apennine culture that was present in most of central southern Italy from the 16th century B.C. onwards. The settlement was probably that of a community with an agricultural-pastoral economy, practicing a limited form of transhumance. The presence of several spindle whorls shows that spinning was undertaken, and attests the importance of products deriving from animal husbandry. A funerary area was investigated in the southern sector, the graves partially cutting the cobble surface of the prehistoric settlement. The 15 burials, partially disturbed by agricultural activity, were in “anatomical” graves narrowing at the feet. Several were covered by irregular, limestone slabs and the graves themselves were lined with slab fragments and small limestone blocks or were bordered by stone chippings. The deceased were buried in a supine position, the heads towards the sunset (W/NW). There were a high number of infant burials. In most of the burials grave goods were absent; in one case a coin was found, in another a circular bronze earring. The small cemetery, datable to between the Late Antique and early medieval periods, must have been that of a rural population living in peripheral areas. There appeared to be a continuation of the traditions of preceding Italic populations rather than those of a “barbarian”culture. The typology of the burials, of late Roman tradition, is well attested in cemeteries of this phase in central southern Itlay and in this region: Morrone del Sannio Casalpiano, amphitheatre at Larino, the court yard of the bishop’s palace at Isernia, Vastogirardi.