During June 2011, a salvage excavation was conducted near Golani Junction (Permit No. A-6171; map ref. 23780–99/74209–16), prior to the construction of an interchange. The excavation, on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, was directed by A. Mokary (field photography), with the assistance of A. Hajian and M. Kunin (surveying), H. Tahan-Rosen (pottery drawing), W. Atrash (guidance) and laborers from Tiberias.
The site is located southwest of Horbat Mishkena (Fig. 1), where remains of agricultural installations dating to the Roman and Byzantine periods were exposed, and west of Kh Lubiya where rock-hewn tombs, quarries and winepresses from the same periods were discerned. Horbat Qishron, where remains ranging in date from the Neolithic until the Early Islamic periods were exposed, is 0.7 km southeast of the site.
Three areas (A–C; Fig. 2) were opened. A building was excavated in Area A; a rock-hewn winepress and nearby clusters of cup marks were exposed in Area B; and a farming terrace was examined in Area C.
Area A. A wall (W15; length c. 10 m; Figs. 3, 4), built of large limestone blocks and aligned north–south, was exposed it was abutted from the west by a similarly built wall (W21; length 5 m). Both walls created a corner of a building and were founded on bedrock that slopes to the south. The fill excavated inside the building (L10, L11) contained fragments of pottery vessels, including a bowl (Fig. 5:1), kraters (Fig. 5:2, 3), cooking pots (Fig. 5:4, 5) and store jars (Fig. 5:6, 7), dating to the second–fourth centuries CE. The multitude of potsherds between the walls of the building indicates it was used as a dwelling.
Area B. A winepress hewn in hard limestone bedrock (Figs. 6, 7) was exposed c. 30 m north of the building. The installation consisted of a rectangular treading floor (L13; 1.2×1.5 m, depth 0.1 m) and an elliptical collecting vat (L23; length 0.8 m, width 0.5 m, depth 0.6 m) that were linked via a hewn channel (see Fig. 6: Section 1–1). Two tethering installations were located on both sides of the treading floor. No potsherds were found in the vicinity of the winepress, but its shape indicates that it can be dated to the Bronze Age. Six small conical cup marks (diam. 10–15 cm, depth 10–15 cm) were hewn in the bedrock surface surrounding the winepress and five small cup marks were noted on the bedrock surface southeast of the winepress.
Area C. A row of dressed stones (W22; length c. 12 m; Figs. 8, 9), possibly a farming terrace aligned east–west, was exposed c. 70 m west of the building in Area A.
The agricultural enclosures and installations in the excavated area and its environs belong to one of the nearby ancient settlements, Horbat Qishron, Tur‘an, Horbat Mishkena or Kh. Lubiya.