Previous excavations along Road 99, to the north of Kibbutz Ha-Gosherim, revealed an extensive site from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic through the Chalcolithic periods (Getzov 1999; 2006; 2008; 2009; Fig. 1: A-2509, A-2717, A-4302, A-5323). Excavations conducted at the site more recently were located to the south of the previous excavation area, along the southern periphery of the ancient site (Bron 2013 [Fig. 1: A-6381]; 2015 [Fig. 1: A-6668]); these excavations unearthed further remains from the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods, including remains of living surfaces. An excavation immediately to the northwest of the kibbutz uncovered remains dating from the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and Islamic periods (Khisas; Syon 2000 [Fig. 1: A-2500]).
The present excavation comprised two squares (Fig. 2) situated c. 50 m east of the previous excavations along the southern periphery of the Neolithic and Chalcolithic site, in an area which likewise rests on a travertine bedrock. The excavation revealed an eroded and partially preserved living surface from the Pottery Neolithic period and a refuse pit with finds from the First World War, which intruded into the Neolithic layer.
 
Both excavation squares revealed at a depth of c. 0.15 m below the surface a very thin layer containing abundant pebble-sized stones and meager pottery and flint (L103, L104; Figs. 3, 4)—apparently a living surface—deposited directly on the bedrock. The pottery sherds were in a very poor state of preservation, and none were diagnostic. The flint assemblage did comprise diagnostic items, dating mostly from a time span comprising the Late Pottery Neolithic and the Early Chalcolithic periods (Shemer, below). The proximity of the archaeological layer to the surface means that it is likely disturbed to a considerable extent. Above this layer, the surface soil included a large amount of modern debris, including animal bone fragments.
A small intrusive refuse pit (L106) was found at the northeastern corner of the excavation area. It yielded a large amount of burned material and numerous bottles, one of which had the manufacturer’s name embossed on its base: Hunyadi Janos SAXLEHNERs Bitterquelle (Fig. 5). This is the name of a Hungarian mineral-water company which was active between 1860 and the late 1920s. The refuse may have originated from Austrian or German troops, which are known to have been present in the Galilee near the end of World War I (Sanders 1920; Falls 1930).
 
The Flint
Maayan Shemer
 
The flint assemblage consists of 137 items, of which 24 (17.5%; Table 1) are tools. Flakes represent the most frequent category of debitage (43.3%), although it was rather blades and bladelets that were used to produce the majority of the tools (c. 80%). The tools are relatively overrepresented in comparison to the knapping debitage and debris: primary elements, cores, chips, chunks and core trimming elements—the by-products of core maintenance. This could indicate that knapping was not conducted on site, although the underrepresentation of small debitage and debris pieces could also be due to the lack of fine sieving during the excavation. A heavily abraded Levallois core—obviously not in its original provenance—was also found; it exhibits a centripetal scar pattern and a preferential mode of production.
 
Table 1. Composition of the Flint Assemblage
 Item
N
%
Primary elements
2
3.0
Flakes
31
46.3
Blades
19
28.4
Bladelets
6
9.0
Naturally backed items
3
4.5
Core trimming elements
6
9.0
Total debitage
67
~100
Chips
10
22.2
Chunks
3
6.7
Fragments
32
71.1
Total debris
45
100.0
Cores
1
0.7
Tools
24
17.5
Debitage
67
48.9
Debris
45
32.8
Total
137
~100
 
Chronologically diagnostic elements among the tools include 11 sickle blades, two arrowheads and two bifacial tools (Table 2). Most of the sickle blades are backed and truncated (N=7; Fig. 6:1, 2), three are simply backed and one of the items is too fragmented to allow any further description. Five of the 11 sickle blades display light denticulation of the working edge, and three are made on bidirectional blades and are possibly products of the naviform knapping technique.
 
Table 2. Composition of the flint tools
 Item
N
%
Sickle blades
11
45.8
Arrowheads
2
8.3
Bifacial tools
2
8.3
Borers
2
8.3
Back and truncation
2
8.3
Bulb thinning
1
4.2
Retouched blades
3
12.5
Broken tool/tool fragment
1
4.2
Total
24
~100
 
The arrowheads include a specimen of the Jericho/Ha-Parsa type (1.4 × 3.0 cm) and an atypical transverse arrowhead (0.4 × 4.0 cm; Fig. 6:3). In the latter, pressure retouch was used to fully shape the dorsal face of the blank, while both pressure retouch and regular percussion retouch were used to partially shape the ventral face. The bifacial tools include an axe (Fig. 6:4) and an item with an irregular shape and a double patina; the latter probably represents a re-shaping of an old item. The non-diagnostic tools comprise three retouched blades, two borers and two backed and truncated blades, which were perhaps meant to be used as sickle blades but remained largely unutilized.
The small size of the assemblage makes its secure attribution to a specific industry difficult. The material is provisionally ascribed to the Late Pottery Neolithic–Early Chalcolithic periods on typological grounds, corresponding to Strata V–IV at Ha-Gosherim (Getzov 2008; 2009).