During June 2004, a survey was conducted south of Moshav Ahihud (Permit No. A-4173; map ref. 2165–71/7562–70), prior to construction. The survey, undertaken on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority and underwritten by the Moshav, was carried out by R. Abu Raya, with the assistance of E. Stern, H. Abu ‘Uqsa and Y. Lerer (surveyors) and A. Shapiro (GPS).
The surveyed area (c. 600 × 800 m; Fig. 1) lies across the slopes on both sides of a wadi that extends from east to west. The ground is rocky and mostly covered with thickets and garigue. Many modern farming terraces, built of fieldstones, are visible on the surface; most are disturbed, except for three (Nos. 19–21) well-preserved ones. Twenty-two rock-hewn installations were identified, including eight cisterns (Nos. 2, 5–9, 11, 12), eight caves (Nos. 1, 14–17, 22–24), four quarries (Nos. 3, 4, 13, 18), one of which (No. 4) damaged an earlier cist tomb, a winepress (No. 10) and a watchman’s hut (No. 25).
All the cisterns, except for No. 11, were found blocked with rocks up to their openings and therefore, their size or shape could not be determined. Cistern 11 has a narrow opening that becomes wider inside and resembles the shape of a bottle’s neck. The caves were partially ruinous or blocked with soil and rocks. Cave 22 is the largest (diam. 10 m); two caves (Nos. 23, 24) have the square opening of a hewn shaft that apparently led to a burial complex of the type common to the Western Galilee during the Late Roman period. Relatively small areas of the quarries (up to 50 sq m) could be discerned on the surface and it was difficult to determine their full size. A small section of a rock-hewn treading floor could be seen in Winepress 10. The fieldstone walls of the circular watchman’s hut (25) are preserved two courses high. The building style and similarity to the farming terraces’ retaining walls suggests that this is a modern structure. Fragments of pottery vessels, dating to the Roman and Byzantine periods, were gathered from the surface, especially adjacent to the earlier cist tomb and Quarries 3 and 4. It seems that the installations should be associated with the settlement that existed in the village of Birwa from the Roman period to the modern era (1948), across which the southeastern part of Moshav Ahihud extends.