In December 2012, a salvage excavation was conducted in the Giv‘at Tal quarter of Rosh Ha-‘Ayin (Permit No. A-6665; map ref. 196562–644/665978–6063), prior to construction. The excavation, undertaken on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority and financed by Ya‘ad Infrastructures, was directed by L. Drezner, with the assistance of E. Bachar and Y. Amrani (administration), A. Peretz (field photography), and V. Essman and Y. Shmidov (surveying and drafting).
A winepress hewn in limestone bedrock was exposed. A hewn channel (length 0.36 m, width 0.17 m) conveyed the must from the treading floor (L102; 2.90 × 3.18 m; Figs. 2, 3) to a filtration pit (L103; 0.98 × 2.10 m, depth 0.36 m) and thence, another hewn channel (length 1.2 m, width 0.13 m) led to a collecting vat (L100; 1.45 × 1.60 m, depth 1.25 m; Figs. 4, 5). The vat was treated with white plaster; inside were small pieces of flint and non-diagnostic sherds. A small sump treated with a thick application of white plaster (L101), in the southwestern corner of the collecting vat, was used for collecting the remainder of the must.
The winepress joins a large array of agricultural installations that operated in the region in antiquity.
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