During December 2010, a trial excavation was conducted in Camp Saint Jean, located c. 5 km north of ‘Akko (Permit No. A-6068; map ref. 20926/76141), after antiquities were discovered during preliminary inspections, prior to construction. The excavation, undertaken on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, and underwritten by the Ministry of Defense, was directed by Y. Lerer (field photography), with the assistance of Y. Ya‘aqobi (administration), Y. Gur (preliminary inspections), D. Syon (metal detection), A. Shapiro (surveying, drafting and GPS), H. Tahan-Rosen (drawing of finds), M. Hartal (guidance) and a group of laborers from Tiberias.
The excavation was conducted c. 0.3 km north of the area where Late Bronze Age tombs were excavated in the past (‘Atiqot 12).
An area (25 sq m) was opened on the hill where the camp was built and two cist tombs (T1, T2; Fig. 1) were exposed. The tombs, dug into the sand, were built of dressed kurkar stones.
Tomb 1 was built of two courses of stones (0.28 × 0.50 × 0.55 m); the flaws in a few of them were covered with plaster. The excavation (depth 1 m; Fig. 2) was suspended upon the discovery of human bones.
The ceramic finds from the fill of the tomb and the plaster on the stones included jars that dated to the Roman period (Fig. 3).
Tomb 2, located c. 1.5 m east of Tomb 1, was partially excavated (depth 0.5 m). The size of the stones used in the construction of the tomb was not ascertained (Fig. 4).
The tombs were dated to the Roman period based on the ceramic finds; they are probably part of a cemetery from this period which was unknown to date.