During October 2003, a salvage excavation was conducted on a rocky ridge, c. 600 m east of Horbat Tirat Tamra in the Western Galilee (Permit No. A-4014*; map ref. NIG 2168/7509; OIG 1668/2509). The excavation, on behalf of the Antiquities Authority and financed by the Meqorot Water Company, was directed by E. Amos, assisted by V. Essman and V. Pirsky (surveying).
A large water cistern was cleaned and two simple winepresses, rock-cuttings and a farming terrace wall were exposed.
The water cistern had a rectangular aperture (1.0 × 2.2 m; Fig. 1:1), from which three steps descended into the installation (7 × 10 m, depth c. 4.5 m) whose walls were coated with hydraulic plaster mixed with potsherds.
Next to the cistern was a simple bedrock-hewn winepress (Fig. 1:2), which consisted of an irregular-shaped treading surface that was linked by way of two perforations to a collecting vat (0.7 × 1.0 m, depth 0.7 m).
Another simple winepress (Fig. 1:3) had a carefully worked elliptical treading floor (1.3 × 1.9 m) with two perforations in its southern side that connected it to a collecting vat, which had not survived (Fig. 2).
Small rock-cuttings (Fig. 1:4–6) and a farming terrace wall (Fig. 1:7) were found to the west of Winepress 3.
It is apparent from the excavation that the rocky ridge east of the site was used for agricultural purposes. It was not possible to date the remains, although similar winepresses had been dated in the past to Middle Bronze II.