Remains of a large structure, probably a dwelling that belonged to the western edge of the Arab village El Muzeiri‘a that existed here until 1948, were discovered in the eastern part of the excavation area (Figs. 1, 2). The west wall was fully exposed (W1; length 11.2 m), as well as parts of the north and the south walls (W2, W3). The walls, preserved a maximum of two courses high (0.5 m), were built of small and medium-sized fieldstones bonded with white mortar, whose exterior face was roughly hewn. The foundations of the walls, which were dug into the soil, and in some places reached bedrock, consisted of small fieldstones, covered with a thin layer of white mortar. The pottery recovered from the foundations of the walls and the surface layer outside the building (L101, L104, L109) dated its construction and operation to the Late Ottoman and the Mandate periods (nineteenth–twentieth centuries CE).

 

Remains of ancient walls west to this building were mostly founded above bedrock. Part of W1 was built above a wide curved wall (W5; width 0.7–1 m) that consisted of large and medium-sized fieldstones. Its western edge abutted a prominent mass of rock. Two other curved and thinner walls (W6, W9), built of small and medium-sized fieldstones, probably served as two small animal pens (L125, L126), or one large pen (L115), whose floor was the natural bedrock. The pottery fragments, mostly storage jars, retrieved from the foundations of these walls dated them to the Hellenistic period (second century BCE)

 

Remains of three other walls, which probably belonged to the same architectural complex, were exposed to the west of the previous walls. Wall 8, built of medium-sized fieldstones also abutted the prominent mass of rock. West of W8 were the poor remains of another wall (W4), founded on bedrock. Two cupmarks were uncovered on both sides of W4. The proximity of the eastern cupmark to W4 indicates that it was hewn prior to construction of the wall. South of W4 was a third wall (W7), built of large and roughly hewn fieldstones (width 0.6 m), and preserved a maximum of two courses high (0.75 m). Theses walls could have been part of another dwelling or agricultural structure that was connected to the pens. The pottery found in the foundations of these walls dated them to the Hellenistic period (second century BCE) and included a stamped amphora handle from Rhodes.