Building. Two parallel walls (W10 and a wall composed of a series of wall sections: W12, W15, W22 and W24, referred to below as W12) extended in a general north–south direction. Wall 12 had two pilasters (W27, W28) that probably bore arches, supporting the ceiling. Wall sections (W14, W18, W21) that may have belonged to the building were found to its north and south. All the walls, built of dressed stones and fieldstones without bonding material, were preserved two courses high. Walls that replaced the arches (W11, W25, W20) were constructed in a later phase between W10 and W12. The later walls used dry construction of different-sized fieldstones and were preserved three courses high. They formed four different-sized rooms (Loci 50–53; Fig. 2). A small-stone floor segment in Room 50 abutted W11. Sections of small-fieldstone floors (L139, L140), abutting W12, were discerned to the west of the building. Fragments of pottery vessels from the Byzantine and Early Islamic periods were discovered on Floor 140. A floor that was devoid of finds, abutting W18 from the north, was removed.  

 

The ceramic assemblage from the building represents many periods. Potsherds from the Early Bronze Age were recovered from mixed loci and included a bowl, a platter and a juglet (Fig. 3:1–3). Vessels from the Hellenistic period consisted of a bowl (Fig. 3:4), a mortarium (Fig. 3:5), a krater (Fig. 3:6) and a jar (Fig. 3: 7). The Roman period yielded bowls (Fig. 3:8–10), cooking pots (Fig. 3:11, 12) and jars (Fig. 3:13, 14). The Byzantine- period pottery comprised bowls (Fig. 3:15–20), jars (Fig. 3:23, 24) and a flask (Fig. 3: 25). The Early Islamic-period pottery included a jug handle (Fig. 3:26) and the Mamluk- period pottery was composed of bowls (Fig. 3:27, 28). Most of the finds dated to the Byzantine and Early Islamic periods, lending to the assumption that the building was erected and used throughout those periods. A coin bearing the image of Salonina, wife of Gallienus (253–268 CE; IAA No. 88521; Figs. 4, 5) was found between the stones of W12. The coin emerged during the construction of an electric pole that destroyed part of wall and therefore, it can not aid in dating the building. 
 

To the south of the building in Squares A and K, sections of walls (W13, W17, W26), which probably belonged to other buildings that were destroyed in the wake of modern construction, were discovered.

 

Two squares (M, N) were excavated c. 40 m north of the building. A section of a wall (W50) in Square M was built of fieldstones and dressed stones without bonding material. A fill accumulation (thickness c. 0.5 m) above W50 contained the handle of a Rhodian amphora, bearing a stamp of Artimas, a manufacturer who operated from 133–112 BCE (Fig. 6). This type of stamped impression with a double frame is known from the beginning of the period when the manufacturer was active and should therefore be dated to c. 130 BCE. The bedding of a mosaic floor, which consisted of white plaster and pottery fragments, was discovered on top of the accumulated fill. The fill on the bedding contained fragments of pottery vessels, among them CRS bowls (Fig. 3:21), an Egyptian Red Slip bowl (Fig. 3:22), rims and handles of amphorae and rims and bases of early Bet She’an jars. The ceramic finds indicate that the floor was no longer in use during the Byzantine period. In the southeastern corner of Square N a heap of fieldstones contained several fragments of pottery vessels.

 

Tombs. Two pit graves (L108, L121) were discovered southeast of W14 and southwest of W18. Tomb 108 contained the articulated bones of a woman, 20–30 years of age. The bones of an adult, of an undetermined gender, were in Tomb 121. The two interments were laid in an east–west direction, their heads to the west.

 

Glass vessels. The glass-vessel fragments are characteristic of the later part of the Roman period (the fourth century CE). Of the two bowl rims, one is cut. Its wall is thin and it is not thickened (Fig. 7:1). The most common fragment is a flat thick base of a cylindrical cup (Fig. 7:2). Another vessel is a bottle/jar with a funnel mouth and an everted, rounded rim (Fig. 7:3).

 

Flint implements. The three flint items included a Canaanean sickle blade, dating to the Early Bronze Age, a blade fragment from the Chalcolithic period and a small flake from the Early Paleolithic period.