Two adjacent square were opened (Fig. 2), revealing a cist grave from the end of the Roman period and the beginning of the Byzantine period (Stratum II) and damaged graves from the late Ottoman period (Stratum I). The excavation was located c. 50 m from a 2016 excavation, which uncovered Islamic graves from the late Ottoman period (Assis 2017). The remains will be described from late to early.
 
Stratum I. A concentration of stones mixed with a few human bones (L101; Fig. 3) was encountered at a depth of 0.5 m below the surface, apparently the remains of several graves dug into a layer of soil mixed with pieces of travertine, highly weathered potsherds and small pebbles (L102, L103, L106–L108); these remains were badly damaged when modern infrastructure work was conducted in the area. The burials were dated to the Ottoman period, based both on their proximity to graves of the late Ottoman period uncovered in 2016 and on a common feature with one of those graves—their proximity to the travertine bedrock (Assis 2017).
 
Stratum II. A north–south cist grave (L111; 0.45–0.55 × 2.10 m; Fig. 4) hewn in travertine bedrock and lined with stones was uncovered at a depth of 2 m below the surface. The grave was covered with ashlar-like slabs (0.25 × 0.35 × 0.65 m on average); the northernmost slab was removed in ancient times (Fig. 5). The southern wall of the grave was missing as well. Inside the grave (Figs. 6, 7) was a layer of dark soil which contained the remains of six individuals: a skeleton in full articulation of a young woman (Table 1: No. 5) and the crania of five more individuals, all without their lower mandible (Table 1: Nos. 1–4, 6). Judging by the differences in elevation of the remains, it seems that the young woman was buried first, with her head in the north, and the five crania were interred later in secondary burial. It is possible that at second phase of burial the missing cover stone the stones of the southern wall were removed, but this disturbance may be the result of looting.
The remains (Table 1) were documented at the site and were then reburied. Age was estimated using Walker’s cranial suture closure score (Buikstra and Ubelaker 1994; White and Folkens 2005:370–371) and dental markers (Meindl and Lovejoy 1985; White and Folkens 2005:365–369). Sex was determined by means of cranial morphology (Bass 1987:82; Buikstra and Ubelaker 1994). Post-cranial features were measured using Bass’s rules for measuring the femur head and condylar width (Bass 1987:219). 
 
Table 1. The Human Remains in Grave 111
No.
Description
Measurements
Sex
Age
Nuchal crest
Mastoid process
Supra orbital margin
Mental eminence
1
Cranium; no mandible; facing north; minimal dental erosion and low suture score (Fig. 8)
Slightly eminent
Small
Sharp edged
Not present
Female
18–24
2
Fragmentary cranium; no mandible
Eminent
Large
Slightly edged
Not present
Male
40–50
3
Very fragmented cranium; no mandible
Slightly eminent
Small
Not present
Not present
Female?
Adult
4
Cranium; no mandible
Eminent
Large
Pronounced
Not present
Male
30–40
5
Articulated skeleton; small, healed wounds on the cranium’s frontal and parietal bones (Fig. 9)
Slightly eminent
Small
Sharp edged
Slightly pronounced
Female
55–65
6
Very fragmented cranium; no mandible
-
-
-
-
?
Adult
 
The grave did not contain any datable finds, but in the layer of soil above the grave (L109, B1006) were fragments of two Golan-Iturean vessels (Hawarit ware), dated to the third–fourth centuries CE: a rim and handle of a casserole (Fig. 10:1; Hartal, Hudson and Berlin 2008:145, Fig. 11:5) and a pithos base (Fig. 10:2; Hartal, Hudson and Berlin 2008:146, Fig. 12:14).
 
Burial in cist graves was common in the vicinity of Caesarea-Phillipi (Banias) during the Roman and Byzantine periods. The city’s necropolis during these periods extended over the area of modern-day Kibbutz Senir, where a burial complex which includes numerous cist graves, some rock-cut and others built with hewn travertine blocks, was found (Stepansky 2004). These graves were found in clusters (Hartal 1997; 2008; 2009:114–133); although many of the graves were oriented north–south, there does not seem to have been any clear system in their direction (Hartal 2009:114–115). According to the anthropological from the excavation at Banias, in those graves that were oriented north–south the cranium was found in the north and the legs south (Hartal 2009:120), as were the articulated remains of the woman in Grave 111.
In some of the graves documented in Caesarea-Phillipi, a cover stone was missing, apparently removed when the grave was looted (Hartal 2009:120). It is thus possible that grave robbers removed the missing cover stone and the southern wall in Grave 111, in their search for grave goods. It is plausible that the crania found in the grave are the remains of nearby graves that were damaged, and they may indicate that the grave was part of a cluster of graves, resembling the graves in the Caesarea-Phillipi’s necropolis.