In November 2011, a trial excavation was conducted at the Wadi ‘Illin antiquities site (Permit No. A-6352; map ref. 20079/62469) after wall remains were discovered during an archaeology inspection prior to construction. The excavation, undertaken on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority and financed by the Israel National Roads Company, Ltd., was directed by R. Greenwald, with assistance from N. Nahama (administration), S. Elbas (preliminary inspections and area preparation), M. Kunin (surveying and drafting) and A. Peretz (field photography).
Area A. Two walls (W10, W12; Figs. 3, 4) were exposed, built one atop the other in an east–west direction. Wall 12 (width c. 2.5 m) was made of two rows of roughly hewn stones and more massive stones on its eastern side. The wall’s core consisted of a layer of large fieldstones superposed by a layer of smaller stones; its top was covered with a layer of river pebbles. Wall 10 (length 5.5 m, width 0.8 m, max. height 0.6 m) was built of a row of large, roughly hewn stones on the northern side and a row of smaller stones on the southern side. It was constructed above W12, its eastern part placed directly on top of the layer of pebbles, while its western part was set on a layer of soil that separated the walls.
Area B. A wall (W11; Fig. 5) built of one row of stones aligned in an east–west direction was exposed. The eastern side of the wall was preserved to a height of 1.22 m, the western side, to a height of c. 0.92 m. The wall inclined to the south.
Wall 12 was used as a dam to contain or regulate the flow of water in the stream. Wall 10, built in a later phase, likewise served as a dam. Wall 11 was probably a retaining wall for a farming terrace, located to its south. The walls could not be dated.