Agricultural Installations
Rock-Hewn Winepress (L2). The winepress consisted of a poorly preserved treading floor (L19; c. 2 × 3 m, max. depth 0.15 m; Figs. 3, 4). A hewn channel at the southwestern end of the floor led to an irregularly shaped collecting vat (L20; 0.85 × 1.30 m, depth 0.7 m). A depression in the bottom of the vat appeared to be natural weathering of the bedrock, but it may have been used in the past as a settling pit.
Cupmarks (Table 1). Some of the cupmarks had a small depression in the center; they were well-worked and their bottom was smoothed (Figs. 5, 6). The depth of the cupmarks varied around their circumference because some were hewn in a sloping surface (e.g., Cupmark 1; Fig. 7). In that case, an opening to a channel in the lower side of the cupmark sloped with the natural slant of the bedrock. The cupmarks could not be attributed to a specific period; however, they were small and shallow, and similar to those that are known from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A sites in the area (see, for example,
Grosman and Goren-Inbar 2007).
Table 1. Cupmarks
Locus
|
Shape
|
Cupmark dimensions (cm)
|
Dimensions of the depression (cm)
|
Remarks
|
Diam.
|
Depth
|
Diam.
|
Depth
|
1
|
Elliptical
|
18–20
|
1–4
|
|
|
Fig. 7
|
5
|
Round
|
45
|
1–6
|
|
|
|
6
|
Round
|
12
|
2–3
|
5
|
2.5
|
Fig. 5
|
7
|
Round
|
20
|
1–8
|
10
|
3
|
Fig. 6
|
8
|
Elliptical
|
35–40
|
15–25
|
|
|
Figs. 8, 9
|
9
|
Round
|
45
|
22
|
|
|
The boulder in which the cupmark is hewn shifted to the west and its western edge cracked
|
10
|
Elliptical
|
15–18
|
1–4
|
|
|
|
11
|
Round
|
18
|
4–14
|
|
|
|
12
|
Round
|
25
|
2–4
|
10
|
2
|
|
13
|
Conical
|
35
|
30–50
|
|
|
May have served as a stand for a jar
|
15
|
Elliptical
|
11–28
|
22–30
|
|
|
May have been formed when quarrying a flint nodule
|
16
|
Elliptical
|
25–28
|
15
|
|
|
Hewn in a straightened boulder. Remains of hewn walls are apparent on its northeastern part (Figs. 8–10)
|
21
|
Round
|
10
|
1–4
|
|
|
|
Agricultural Terrace (L4; length 23.3 m; Fig. 11). The terrace, oriented northeast–southwest, had a retaining wall (W18, length 6.1 m, width 0.5 m; Fig. 12) built of large stones (average size 0.5 × 0.7 m). At its northeastern end was a field wall (W14; length 5.5 m) built of small fieldstones. Several meters to the east was a field wall (W3; length 2.2 m, width 0.7 m; Fig. 3) aligned east–west, built of three large stones (boulders); it may have been incorporated in the terrace or served as an enclosure wall. All the walls were constructed on natural bedrock.
Stone Clearance Heap (L22; c. 0.8 × 2.3 m, height 0.4–0.6 m). The heap was situated between two boulders in which were hewn Cupmarks 10 and 11; it was probably modern and its stones were removed from the neighboring orchard.
Pottery. A few abraded pottery sherds (not drawn) were discovered. Four body fragments of pottery dating to the Persian and Hellenistic periods were found near W18 and one sherd, probably a body sherd of a jar from the Roman period, was found in the silt that had accumulated between the boulders.
Prehistoric Site
Signs of rock quarrying were observed at the site, probably evidence of lumps of natural flint that had been removed (Figs. 13, 14). Knapped flint items were also discovered, both on the surface and in the silt accumulation between the natural boulders near the natural flint outcrops. It seems that the flint items were not found where they were originally deposited; however, the finds in the area indicate intense quarrying activity during prehistoric periods, together with primary flint knapping activity. The flint assemblage did not include any diagnostic items but the nature of the activity and the composition of the assemblage are similar to those known from Pre-Pottery Neolithic A sites in the vicinity of Modiʽin. These are characterized by the quarrying of chunks of flint from the
nari bedrock and an
ad hoc flake industry as well as the production and use of bifacial tools (
Zbenovich 2006;
Spivak 2010; Grosman and Goren-Inbar 2016).
Flint Artifacts. The flint assemblage (N=174; Table 2; Fig. 15) was comprised essentially of debitage that included numerous primary elements and several thinning flakes that are characteristic of a bifacial tool industry. The assemblage contained nine cores, five of them broken, and four flake cores typical of an ad hoc flake industry, as well as ad hoc tools that included retouched flakes and two notches.
Table 2. The Flint Assemblage
Type
|
N
|
%
|
Chunks
|
7
|
4.0
|
Chips
|
21
|
12.1
|
Primary elements
|
61
|
35.0
|
Flakes
|
57
|
32.8
|
Blades
|
4
|
2.3
|
Core trimming elements
|
3
|
1.7
|
Bifacial trimming elements
|
8
|
4.6
|
Total debitage
|
161
|
92.5
|
Tools (Fig. 15:3, 4)
|
4
|
2.3
|
Cores (Fig. 15:1, 2)
|
9
|
5.2
|
Total
|
174
|
100.0
|
Ammunition
Alexander Glick
Ten items identified as ammunition were found on the surface (Fig. 16):
1. A British Type 303 cartridge (7.7 × 56.0 mm R; Fig. 1:16)—small-arms ammunition that was very common in the British Empire from the end of the nineteenth century until the first half of the twentieth century CE. The cartridge, which had been fired, was well-preserved although its top was broken. The cartridge is Type MKVII (universal, suitable for both rifles and machine guns) and bears the marking of the British army without a manufacturer’s code. Date of production: 1941.
2. Four bullets, all of which had been shot with firing marks on them: a British 303 bullet (Fig. 16:2a), probably a Type MKVII; two NATO-type bullets (7.62 × 51.00 mm; Fig. 16:2b) that were crushed from having struck a hard target, probably ammunition from IDF training; a small bullet (diam. c. 5.6 mm; Fig. 16:2c) that was crushed from having struck a hard target, probably NATO ammunition (5.56 × 45.00 mm), common in Western armies, including the IDF, from the 1960s.
3. Five small pieces of shrapnel, the largest c. 25 × 25 mm (Fig. 16:3), that are probably shrapnel from high explosive shells or from a small field cannon with a bore of 65–90 mm. These are field artillery pieces that were very common from the nineteenth century CE until the first years of the State of Israel.
The ancient remains that were excavated and documented are indicative of agricultural activity in antiquity, probably during the Persian and Hellenistic periods. Intensive flint quarrying also occurred there during prehistoric times. It seems that the chunks of flint that were removed from the rock underwent initial knapping at the site and that much of the flint was taken elsewhere, where tools were produced. The quarrying, knapping and thinning flakes, in comparison to many other sites in the Modiʽin area, are evidence of activity during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A.