 Dozens of ancient grape and olive presses, as well as cisterns hewn out of the bedrock, testify to a long history of agriculture.The hill at the east end of Alon Shvut is known as "Khirbet Beit Sawir" (ruins of "Beit Sawir") or in recent times Giv'at HaHish.An excavation by Yuval Peleg found a columbarium, a winepress and a ritual bath (mikveh) from the Hellenistic or Roman period.