Lot 304

The excavation area on the southern hill of the moshav revealed two strata (Fig. 1).

 

Stratum I. Six shallow, north–south oriented, oval basins, hewn in the nari bedrock (Loci 2102, 2105, 2109, 2110, 2112, 2113; depth 0.5 m), were found. The basins were filled with dark clayey soil replete with flint items, which were found in situ and did not undergo a process of secondary deposition. Most of them were natural chunks of raw material but several cores, blades and bladelets were discerned. The tools were mostly microliths, shaped from small bladelets and displaying abrupt retouch on their back. These tools are common to the Epipalaeolithic period and probably belong to the Kebaran culture.

 

Stratum II. A stone quarry (length 3.4 m, width 3 m) with two hewn steps was exposed. On one step (L2107) were remains of severance channels and stone blocks that had not been removed. The second step (L2111) was hewn down to the soft bedrock. Two circular pits in the southeastern part of the area contained burnt remains and ash, which may indicate they were tabun bases (Loci 2106, 2108).

 

Lot 295  

The excavation in this lot on the southern hill of the moshav revealed the remains of quarries and caves hewn in the nari bedrock (Fig. 2). One of the quarries (5 × 5 m) consisted of three hewn steps (Loci 2200, 2201, 2208), which clearly exhibited the severance channels. Cupmarks in a variety of sizes, some used as holes for wooden posts, were found. A cave (L2203) in the southern wall of the quarry, devoid of any antiquities, was probably hewn by the residents of the village from 1948. Another quarry (5 × 5 m) had two hewn steps (Loci 2209, 2210), displaying remains of severance channels. The quarries were part of a large quarry complex in the nari bedrock, spread out along the southern hill of Moshav Kerem Maharal, which supplied masonry stones for the construction on the tell of the northern hill, where excavations were conducted by K. Sa‘id (Permit Nos. A-3648, A-3715).

 

Four other squares (1 × 1 m; Loci 2202, 2204, 2206, 2207) were excavated at the western end of the lot, at the entrance to the soft bedrock-hewn cave, which was used for dwelling in antiquity and contained several flakes and flint debitage. The cave’s entrance was later sealed by the residents of the Arab village who used it for storage.