During March 1990 four trial trenches (length 3.5–8.0 m, width 0.8 m; Permit No. A-1755*; map ref. NIG 1905/6515; OIG 1405/1515) were dug by mechanical equipment and excavated manually prior to the construction of a commercial center. A large quantity of pottery fragments that probably date to the Byzantine and Early Islamic periods, as well as a few bones were discovered at a depth of 2.6 m in one of the trenches; building remains were discerned at a depth of 2.2 m. The rest of the trenches were excavated to a depth of 4 m and two trenches yielded a few pottery fragments.