Stratum II. Two phases (B, A) were identified in this stratum. Two gray plaster floors (L106, L107) were exposed below two floors of plaster and small fieldstones (L103, L104). The two floor levels were separated by light brown soil fill (thickness 0.2 m; Fig. 3). Floors 104 and 106 abutted a covered water channel (L102; length c. 2 m, width 0.3 m) from the southwest, which was also abutted from the northeast by Floors 103 and 107. The channel, oriented northwest-southeast, was built of small fieldstones, coated with gray plaster and covered with medium-sized fieldstones (Fig. 4). The channel may have been used for either irrigation or sewage, or for draining and conveying water to a nearby cistern, which was not located due to the limitations of the excavation (Fig. 5). Part of a semicircular tabun (L105), which was abutted by Floor 104 from the late Phase A of Stratum II, was exposed in the western corner of the square.

Probes (L108, L111) were excavated below Floors 106 and 107; sterile soil devoid of any archaeological finds was exposed at the bottom Probe 108.

 

The ceramic finds from Stratum II are common to the local material culture in the Early Islamic period (tenth century CE) and include painted and glazed table ware, such as bowls (Fig. 6:1–9), plain bowls (Fig. 6:10–12), kraters decorated with a wavy combed lines (Fig. 6:13, 14), jugs (Fig. 6:15–18) and ceramic wedges used to support vessels in a pottery kiln (Figs. 6:19; 7), which allude to the nearby presence of a pottery workshop.

 

Stratum I. A section of a stone pavement (L100), composed of small and medium fieldstones and gray mortar (Fig. 8), was exposed in the south of the square. Due to the pavement’s proximity to the surface, it was poorly preserved.