During June 2001, a trial excavation was conducted in ‘Akko (Permit No. A-3431; map ref. NIG 20790–5/75800–875; OIG 15790–5/25800–875), prior to construction work. The excavation, on behalf of the Antiquities Authority, was directed by A. Thatcher and D. Syon, assisted by V. Essman and V. Pirsky (surveying).
Ten excavation squares (4 × 5 m) were opened. Part of a building complex from the Hellenistic period, a pavement from the Roman period and a wall from the Crusader period were discovered in five of the squares (Fig. 1). No architectural remains were revealed in the other five squares; a disturbance that was apparently caused when earthwork was carried out in the modern era or perhaps even in the Ottoman period was discerned.
The Hellenistic Period. The construction complex included a long wall (W113; length c. 10 m) oriented east–west, with additional walls adjoining it on either side (W120, W122–124). The walls were founded on the virgin soil (heavy alluvium and clayey earth) and were preserved two courses high (c. 1.5 m). The method of construction employed for the walls is a known Phoenician building technique––using large dressed stones set on their narrow sides, at regular intervals and medium-sized fieldstones filling the spaces between them. Plaster was preserved on some of the walls. Inside the rooms (Loci 116, 117, 128, 131, 132) were several floor levels or floor beddings that consisted of tamped beach sand and chipped dressing debris of kurkar masonry stones. An accumulation of soil above the floors contained a large quantity of potsherds, including frit ware, and coins.
The Roman Period. During this period several walls were lowered to a uniform height and their upper stones were incorporated in a stone pavement.
The Crusader Period. A long wall oriented east–west (W118) was discovered; its eastern end was incorporated into a very broad wall foundation of unclear function. Building the foundation involved digging a deep channel in the clayey alluvium soil and pouring fieldstones and bonding material into it. The walls are dated to the thirteenth century CE, based on ceramic finds.