Two half squares were opened within the precincts of a declared antiquities site and two pits (L103—diam. 1.1 m, depth 0.7 m; L104—diam. 1 m, depth 0.4 m; Figs. 1–3) were revealed, 2.5 m apart. The pits were hewn in kurkar bedrock that is part of the middle kurkar ridge along the coastal plain. A layer of dark brown alluvium was deposited above the bedrock. Over the years the pits filled up with an accumulation of brown soil and potsherds; the latter were discovered mostly at the bottom of the pits. The pottery finds in the pits dated to Early Bronze Age IA, B and included an open bowl with a rim folded slightly outward (Fig. 4:1), fragments of large jars with a rim that becomes wider toward the outside (Fig. 4:2–4), a jug with an open everted rim (Fig. 4:5), as well as body fragments of pottery vessels in which a hole was drilled for the purpose of repair (Fig. 4:6, 7). The ceramic assemblage in the pits probably indicates they were used for storage. The pits were probably part of a settlement, located at the site close to Nahal Ayyalon, which was established in Early Bronze IA (3200/3100–2950/2900 BCE).
A previous survey at the site documented remains of rock-hewn shafts that were dated to the Chalcolithic period (J. Kaplan. 1959. The Archaeology and the History of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Tel Aviv [Hebrew]). Two hewn pits were discovered in an excavation at the site in 1980; one was used as a shelter and the other was probably a silo. The ceramic finds in the pits dated to Early Bronze IA and at the bottom of the pits, potsherds dating to the Chalcolithic period were also discovered (HA 78-79:48 [Hebrew]). Other Early Bronze I remains have been uncovered in Tel Aviv, e.g., in excavations on Giv‘at Bet Ha-Mitbahayim, in the Exhibition Grounds and on Ha-Bashan Street (R. Gophna. 2010. The Archaeology of the Protohistoric Periods of Tel Aviv. In E. Ayalon [ed.], The Secret History of Tel Aviv, Eretz Israel Museum Exhibition Catalogue, pp. 43–44). In addition, burial sites from this period were exposed in Giv‘atayim, on Salama Street in Tel Aviv (Ayalon 2010: 49–50) and in Ha-Qirya in Tel Aviv (HA-ESI 117).