Area A. A rectangular tomb (L27; 0.7×2.0 m; Fig. 2) hewn in basalt bedrock was exposed; the upper part of the tomb was lined with slabs of limestone fieldstones. A skeleton was found in-situ and the excavation of the tomb was suspended. Funerary offerings were exposed above the skeleton, including a chalice (Figs. 3:1, 4) and a jar (Figs. 3:3, 5), both of which date to Iron Age I. Small bones were found in the jar, which was presumably used for the interment of an infant.
 
Area B. A wall (W20; length 10 m, width 0.5–0.7 m; Fig. 6) preserved a single course high was exposed. Aligned east–west, it was built of large limestone fieldstones. It is important to note that the wall was not straight and probably shifted as a result of geological activity. Potsherds dating to the Roman period were found in a probe excavated alongside the wall, among them a fragment of a cooking pot (Fig. 3:4) and a fragment of a basalt bowl (Fig. 3:5). Three concentrations of fieldstones were found south of the wall. Only the eastern concentration (L24) was partially excavated; bones and a pair of bronze earrings/bracelets were found in it (Fig. 7). Based on the finds, it can be assumed that the eastern concentration of stones, and possibly the other two as well, are tombs.
 
Area C. An enclosure wall (W25; length c. 9 m, width 0.5–0.7 m; Fig. 8), built of fieldstones and founded on top of the basalt bedrock, was discovered. This was probably the continuation of W20 in Area B.
 
While closely overseeing the digging of a trench for the gas line, a chalice (Fig. 3:2) and a pair of bronze ingots (Fig. 9) were found. A piece of linen textile survived on one of the ingots (see fabric remains, below).
 
On the basis of the finds, it can be postulated that the excavated area was beyond the residential region of the Horbat Tevet antiquities site and was probably used as a burial ground in Iron Age I. In the Roman period the region was delimited by an enclosure wall. The walls exposed in the two excavation areas were oriented along the same axis and might be one wall that was built in the Roman period and delineated cultivation plots.
 
Textile Remains on a Bronze Ingot
Orit Shamir
 
Several remnants of textile fragments that adhered to an ingot were analyzed (IAA No. 2011-9004; Fig. 10). Green stains on the pieces are due to the copper’s corrosion, which preserved the remnants.
The biggest fragment is 0.5 ´ 1.0 cm. The samples are undyed S-spun (anti-clockwise) white linen, possibly bleached. The fragments were woven in a medium-density plain-weave technique (14 threads per cm for both warp and weft) and the threads were of uneven thickness.
 
The site, in the northern part of Israel, has remains from the Iron Age. Linen finds from the north of the country are rarely encountered (Shimony and Shamir 1994:98). The Bet She’an region is known to have been a center for linen production. Archaeological discoveries give further evidence of linen production in the region, such as a thirteenth century BCE linen textile fragment from Bet She’an (Shamir 2009). A spindle with linen threads still wrapped around it was revealed in the tenth century BCE stratum at Tell el-Hama (Cahill, Lipton and Tarler 1988; Cahill,Tarler and Lipovich 1989:36; Shamir 1996:142).
 
S-spun linen threads are known to have been present in the Land of Israel 10,000 years ago, based on findings attached to a comb in the Murabba‘at cave (Schick 1995) and they are common in Israel until the Medieval period.
 
 

Cahill J. M., Lipton [Lipovich] G. and Tarler D. 1988. Tell el-Hammah. IEJ 38:191–194.
 
Cahill J., Tarler D. and Lipovich G. 1989. Tell el-Hammah in the Tenth Century BCE. Qadmoniyot 85-86:33–38 (Hebrew).
 
Gal Z. 1998. Map of Har Tavor and Map of ‘En Dor [41, 45] (Archaeological Survey of Israel). Jerusalem.
 
Schick T. 1995. A 10,000 Year Old Comb from Wadi Murrabba‘'at in the Judean Desert. ‘Atiqot 27:199–202.
 
Shamir O. 1996. Loomweights and Whorls. In D.T. Ariel. Excavations at the City of David 1978-85, Directed by Y. Shiloh IV(Qedem 35). Jerusalem. Pp. 135–170.
 
Shamir O. 2009. A Linen Textile Fragment. In N. Panitz-Cohen and A. Mazar, eds. Excavations at Tel Beth Shean 1086–1996. Vol. III: The 13th–11th Centuries BCE Strata in Areas N and S. Jerusalem. Pp. 608–611.
 
Shimoni C. and Shamir O. 1994. Gesher Haziv-Textile Remains on Coins. ‘Atiqot 25:97.
 
Zori N. 1977. The Survey of Nahalat Issachar. Jerusalem (Hebrew).