During March 2004, a trial excavation was conducted at Horbat Devela, in Daliyat el-Karmil (Permit No. A-4130; map ref. NIG 2043/7328; OIG 1543/2328), following the discovery of ancient remains. The excavation, undertaken on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority and underwritten by the Israel Electric Corporation, was directed by S. Golan, with the assistance of A. Hajian (surveying), T. Sagiv (field photography), M. Shuiskaya (pottery drawing) and Z. Horovich and E. Yannai.
A single square was excavated along the northeastern slope of the site, revealing a wall that was built of large ashlar stones and founded on bedrock (Figs. 1, 2). The wall was dated to the middle of the second or the beginning of the third century CE.
The ceramic finds consisted mostly of storage jars (Fig. 3:1–7) and an amphora (Fig. 3:8), along with some cooking-pot fragments (not illustrated). The earliest pottery is dated to the first century CE, but most is dated to the second–third centuries CE.