During August 2007, a salvage excavation was conducted at the Dabburiya village (Permit No. A-5143; map ref. 23455–70/73343–83), in the wake of a survey carried out prior to the construction of a residential quarter. The excavation, on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, was directed by B. Hanna, with the assistance of Y. Lavan (administration), A. Najar (area supervision), H. Smithline (field photography), B. Hanna, W. Atrash and A. Shapiro (preliminary inspections), H. Tahan-Rosen (pottery drawing) and laborers from Yafi‘a.
Dabburiya village, identified with Dovrat in the Tribe of Issachar, is situated on the western fringes of Mount Tabor (Jabel e-Tur). Remains of a fortress from the Crusader period are located on the peak of the mountain; within the fortress, remains of ancient buildings, a church that was built in the twelfth century CE, and possibly also meager remains of chapels from the Byzantine period, are found. Remains dating to the Hellenistic–Early Islamic, Crusader, Mamluk and Ottoman periods were discovered in surveys and excavations that had been conducted in the village (Map of Mount Tabor [41] and Map of ‘En Dor [45], Site 63; HA-ESI 122, A-4967). Remains of a church dating to the Middle Ages were exposed in the center of the village, and c. 0.5 km north of it, a burial cave ascribed to the end of the first century CE was excavated (ESI 16:50–51). Architectural remains, cisterns and potsherds from Early Bronze Age I and from the Persian–Byzantine and Mamluk periods were found in Horbat Devora, located north of the village, on a hilltop of a spur that looks out over Nahal Devora.
The current excavation was undertaken west of the village, on the steep eastern slope of Mount Devora, in an agricultural region, which is mostly surrounded by a terrace wall. An area (c. 4 dunams) was opened and building stone quarries and quarries for chalk used in lime production were exposed; no datable artifacts were uncovered.
Quarries of various sizes are concentrated in limestone outcrops in an area of c. 10 dunams. Most of the quarries are rectangular with straight sides and have 2–4 hewn steps (height 0.25–0.35 m; Table 1). In a few instances, stones were found in situ, having hewn severance channels (width 6–10 cm) around them. A small amount of stone dressing debris was found in some quarries, indicating the stones were probably dressed in-situ.
Table 1. The Quarries
Locus
|
Dimensions (m)
|
Comments
|
Fig.
|
103
|
In the north: 2.0×3.4, height 0.95–1.45;
In the south: 2.9×6.0, height 2.2
|
4–6 quarrying steps and a severance channel
|
1
|
104
|
3.7×4.3, height 2.05
|
4–7 quarrying steps, several stones at the bottom of the quarry (0.2×0.5×0.8 m)
|
1
|
107
|
1.5×4.0
|
3–4 quarrying steps in bedrock that apparently became detached from the side of the quarry to its west
|
2
|
108
|
4.5×5.0
|
4 quarrying steps and a severance channel in the north; 2–3 quarrying steps in the south
|
3
|
109
|
3.5×8.5
|
3–4 quarrying steps
|
3
|
111
|
2.3×3.0 in the west, 2.6×3.5 m in the east
|
1–3 quarrying steps
|
4
|
112
|
5.0–6.5×11.0, height 1.75
|
1–4 quarrying steps and a severance channel
|
5
|
113
|
2.5×6.5, height 0.8–1.8 m
|
5 quarrying steps, a severance channel and several detached stones that were not finished
|
5, 6
|
114
|
1.5×10.0, height 0.8
|
2–3 quarrying steps
|
7
|
116
|
1.0–1.5×5.0–7.8, height 1
|
3–4 quarrying steps, a severance channel
|
8
|
Natural cavities that had been enlarged and quarried (L105, L106, L115; Figs. 9–11), probably for the purpose of mining raw material for the lime industry, were identified in the qirton bedrock beneath the nari. It seems that in several places, the quarrymen aimed specifically for the easy and convenient nari that was suitable for building stones; when the layer of nari was exhausted, they stopped quarrying the stone and began mining the qirton.
The quarries were covered with a layer of forest soil that contained a few potsherds dating to the Early Roman period, including two jars (Fig. 12).
It became clear that the quarries were abandoned after being exploited to their maximum potential. The meager ceramic artifacts and the alluvium did not allow dating the quarries; however, it was established that the rock-cuttings in the qirton postdated those in the nari, and that the terrace wall behind them was probably modern.