An excavation area (G; 8 × 9 m; Figs. 2–4) was opened on the eastern slope of a limestone hill, at the top of which is Khirbat el-Meisiya. Three layers of soil were exposed: a brown and clayey upper layer; a middle comprising a mixture of brown clayey soil and red soil; and a lower one consisting of red soil. The two upper layers revealed a floor and a wall from the Chalcolithic period (Ghassulian culture; Phase III) as well as remains of two Early Bronze IB construction phases (II and I). The remains from EB IB were poorly preserved because the walls of the structures had sunk into the clayey soil on which they were built and later also damaged by modern construction and infrastructure.

The finds from the excavation join remains of the Chalcolithic (Ghassulian culture) and the late phase of the EB IB settlement uncovered in the past in the western residential expansion of Moshav Beqo‘a (Golani and Storchan 2010 [Fig. 2: Areas A–F, F122]; Golani, Storchan and Eirikh-Rose 2018), as well as caves and rock cut features from later periods (Golani 2011 [Fig. 2; Areas F211, F224, F233, F236]; Kogan-Zehavi 2016 [Fig. 2: Areas F129, F132, F133, F139, F140, F142, F155]). Remains of a Late Bronze Age settlement were uncovered previously in the northern residential expansion of the moshav (Kogan-Zehavi 2008).

 

Phase III. A stone floor (W122; Fig. 5) and a wall (W127) from the Chalcolithic period were found in the eastern part of the excavation area. The quantity of Chalcolithic (Ghassulian culture) sherds increased the deeper the excavation progressed into the middle soil layer. A mechanical excavation immediately next to the Phase II ovoid structure (see below) revealed that the lower, red soil layer contained no finds and was virgin soil on which the Chalcolithic settlement was built.

 

Phase II. Remains were found of an ovoid structure built along a northwest–southeast axis, its narrow part facing a wadi. The walls (W103, W104, W113) were built of two rows of fieldstones, some of which were roughly worked; they were preserved to a maximum height of two courses. Ovoid structures are known from EB IA and the early part of EB IB (Braun 1989; Golani 1999). The inner face of W113 was thickened with medium-sized and small fieldstones, creating a kind of bench (W129; Fig. 6). Another wall (W102) was incorporated into W103, perhaps as a partition or a later wall that reduced the size of the building. Meager remains of a floor (L116) were traced in the building. Numerous EB IB sherds and stone tools (see below) were retrieved in the ruins on the floor. Under the floor (L119) sherds were found from the Chalcolithic period and EB I. Another floor (L121; Fig. 7), discovered northwest of the building, abutted W104 and was apparently a remnant of a courtyard. Upon it were sherds dating from EB IB, a basalt grinding stone and a few animal bones. Immediately to the east of the structure were remains of another built unit (Fig. 8). A wall (W115) constructed against the outer face of W113 was built of a row of medium-sized and small fieldstones and preserved to the height of one course. Wall 115 was abutted by another wall (W114), which was built of two rows of fieldstones, some of which were roughly worked; it was preserved to a height of one course. The inner face of W114 was thickened with medium-sized fieldstones (W128) and was preserved to a height of one course. This thickened portion also abutted W115, and resembled Bench 129 from the ovoid building; therefore, it too apparently served as a bench. It seems that Walls 114 and 128 were cut on their northeastern side during construction of the building from Phase I.

 

Phase I. A corner of a structure (W105; Fig. 9) was found in the northeastern part of the area. Its outer face was rounded, its interior formed a straight angle, and it was preserved to a height of three courses. Buildings with corners rounded on the exterior and straight-angled on the interior are known from the later phase of EB IB (Golani 1999).

 
The Pottery
The Chalcolithic period (Ghassulian culture). Pottery sherds were made of brown-light yellowish clay with medium-sized and small gray or white grits. Among these are bowls (Fig. 10:1–5), basins, some of which were medium fired (Fig. 11:1–6), and holemouth jars, some of which were well fired (Fig. 12:1–5). The rims of the bowls are plain, sharp or rounded; one rim is coated inside and out with brown-reddish paint (Fig. 10:2). The basins have thickened rims; some have a thumb-indented decoration on the outside (Fig. 11:3). The rims of the holemouth jars are plain, sharp or rounded; one features a delicate thumb-indented decoration (Fig. 12:4). Among the finds is a thumb-indented ledge handle (Fig. 12:6), two churn handles (Fig. 12:7, 8) and a body shred with a thumb-indented rope decoration (Fig. 12:9). The sherds resemble those discovered in earlier excavations at Beqo‘a (Golani, Storchan and Eirikh-Rose 2018: Figs. 20–22), Ḥorbat Nevallaṭ (van den Brink and Lazar 2019: Figs. 52, 53, 56, 59, 60), Ḥorbat ‘Illit (Milevski et al. 2013: Figs. 23–27, 29, 30) and Tel Ḥalif (Alon and Yekutieli 1995: Fig. 24).
 

Early Bronze IB. Pottery sherds are made of brown-orange clay containing gray or white grits. Among these are bowls (Fig. 13:1, 2, 7), well-fired jars (Fig. 14:9–11) and medium-fired holemouth jars (Fig. 14:1–8). The bowl rims are plain or thickened and undecorated, apart from two rims decorated with thumb indentations (Fig. 13:4, 6). The holemouth jar rims are plain and thickened and are either rounded or squared in section (Fig. 14:1–4) or thickened and inverted (Fig. 14:6–8). One cut rim has a square section (Fig. 14:5). The jar rims are either splayed and plain, sharp or rounded and are undecorated. A ledge handle (Fig. 14:12) and a body fragment bearing an incised decoration (Fig. 14:13) were also unearthed. Similar sherds were discovered in earlier excavations at Beqo‘a (Golani, Storchan and Eirikh-Rose 2018: Figs. 26, 27) and at the Silo Site at Tel Ḥalif (Alon and Yekutieli 1995: Figs. 18, 19, 22).

 

Some of the pottery sherds described above appear as early as EB IA, including several bowls (Figs. 13:3–6), a holemouth jar (Fig. 14:2), the thumb-indented ledge handle (Fig. 12:6) and the body fragment with the thumb-indented rope decoration (Fig. 12:9). They are made of brown-gray clay with a dark gray core and medium-sized and small gray grits, except for one (Fig. 13:4), which is made of brown-reddish clay and displays a design of dense delicate indentations on the rim, apparently executed using a reed. A similar decoration was discovered on holemouth jars in Stratum I at Azor (Golani and van den Brink 1999: Figs. 5, 6:3, 10). Bowls similar to those appearing in Figs. 13:3–6 were found in the past in Stratum I at Azor (Golan and van den Brink 1999: Fig. 4:11–13), Ashkelon (Braun and Gophna 2004: Fig. 17; Golani 2004: Figs. 11, 22:2, 23:2; Khalaily 2004: Figs. 12:1–3, 14, 16), in Phases IV–III at ur Ikhbeineh (Oren and Yekutieli 1992: Fig. 10:14, 21, 2) and in Stratum 4 at Nitẓẓanim (Yekutieli and Gophna 1994: Fig. 11:17–19).

 
The Flint
Maayan Shemer
 
The flint items (N=135; Table 1) were made of three types of flint: semitranslucent brecciated gray flint (c. 40% of the items); semitranslucent flint in hues of brown (c. 40% of the items); and opaque, gray-yellow Eocene flint (c. 10%). The rest of the items were burned, precluding identification of flint type. The items bore moderate to extensive signs of wear, indicated by dull working edges and, in some cases, even dull ridges on their dorsal surfaces. The wear may have been the result of activities involving stepping on and moving the items, known at sites with ongoing human activity; however, it is also possible that the wear is a result of post-depositional movement of the items.

The flint items belong to a flake industry with a fairly high core frequency. It seems that all levels of the reduction sequence are represented in the assemblage, including the primary phases of the shaping of the core, represented in the primary objects, and the phases of core maintenance and renewal, represented by typical debitage. However, the assemblage is too small to determine whether the knapping was done in situ and, if so, to what extent. Flakes are the most common items, both in knapping debitage and in items selected for retouching (Table 2). The debitage revealed no blades, but three were discovered among the tools (see below). Most of the cores (15 out of 17) were used to produce flakes, utilizing multiple striking platforms (c. 67%; 10 items) or a single platform (c. 33%; 5 items). One semi-pyramidal core, used to produce bladelets, had a single striking platform. Another core, abandoned in the preliminary phases of preparation, reveals the preparation of a single striking platform and signs of shaping of the removal face to create a ridge blade.

 

Table 1. Flint Artifacts

Item
N
Percent.
Primary items
5
7.6
Natural backed
2
3.0
Flakes
51
78.8
Core trimming element
7
10.6
Subtotal
66
100
Fragments
12
35.3
Chunks
22
64.7
Subtotal
34
100
Knapping debitage
66
48.9
Fragments
34
25.2
Cores
17
12.6
Tools
17
12.6
Hammerstones
1
0.7
Total
135
100
 

Seventeen items were identified as tools (Table 2) because they presented additional signs of having been worked. Partially retouched items are very frequent, although denticulates and bifacials are also common. Five of the tools are dated: a sickle blade with a semi-abrupt back, truncated at the proximal part (Fig. 15.1); a fragment of a fan scraper (Fig. 15:2); and three bifacial tools—an axe, an adze and an incomplete item. The appearance of these types of tools together is very common in the Chalcolithic period (Ghassulian culture). Fan scrapers are also common in the Early Bronze Age flint industry; however, the scraper does not appear to belong to this phase of activity at the site, both because there are no additional items dated to this period (for example, Canaanean blades) and because of the frequent appearance of the fan scraper in Ghassulian culture flint assemblages (Rosen 1997:71–80).

 

Table 2. Flint Tools

Tool
Primary item
Natural back
Flake
Blade
Other
Total
N
Percent.
Bifacial
 
 
 
 
3
3
17.6
Sickle blade
 
 
 
1
 
1
5.9
Fan scraper
1
 
 
 
 
1
5.9
Scraper
 
 
 
1
 
2
11.8
Perforator
 
 
 
 
 
1
5.9
Notched
 
 
 
1
 
1
5.9
Denticulated
1
 
2
 
 
3
17.6
Partial retouch
1
4
 
 
5
29.4
Total
N
2
1
8
3
3
17
100
Percent
11.8
5.9
47.1
17/6
17.6
100
 
 
 
The Stone Artifacts
Yoav Weingarten
 
Sixteen stone objects were unearthed (Table 3) among them pounders/pebbles (N=6; Fig. 16:1, 2), grinding tools (N=5; Fig. 16:3), vessels (N=3; Fig. 16:4) and mortars (N=2; Fig. 16:5). The objects were measured where possible and the maximal dimensions measured appear in the table. In most cases the thickness represents the distance between the two opposing working surfaces or between the working surface and the dorsal face. In the vessels and mortars the thickness represents the distance between the interior and exterior of the base. Two of pounders/pebbles are almost complete (Fig. 16:1, 2), while the rest of the artifacts were found broken. Most of the items were made of local raw materials such as limestone, marl, calcrete, calcite and chalk. Three of the grinding tools were made of vesicular basalt and two of the vessels were made of smooth basalt. Basalt was considered a unique raw material because it was imported from other areas of the southern Levant. Two of the vessels are represented by small fragments that were difficult to attribute to a known typological group. However, the use marks on their interior shows that they were utilized as grinding bowls. The third vessel was made of limestone and had straight sides diagonal to a slightly convex base (Fig. 16:4); sides of this type are known from the Early Bronze Age (Braun 1990:89–90; Rowan 1998:257–268).
 
Table 3. Stone Artifacts
 
Locus
 
Basket
 
Tool
 
Subtype
 
Raw material
 
Measurements (cm) and Weight (gr)
 
Remarks
 
Fig.
100
1055/1
Pounder/
Pebble
Crusher/
Grinder
Yellowish
marl
Length 7.5
Width 5.4
Thickness 2.5
Weight 139
Ovoid; worn striking platform; striking signs on tool edges; slightly broken
 
106
1056
Pounder/
Pebble
Crusher/
Grinder
Hard
limestone
Diam. 7.2
Thickness 4.4
Discoidal; smooth; striking signs; slightly broken
16:1
109
1075
Pounder/
Pebble
Crusher/
Grinder
Calcite/
crystalline limestone
Width 9
Thickness 7.2
Ovoid; redness on the whole stone—possible evidence of ochre
 
120
1073/2
Pounder/
Pebble
Crusher/
Grinder
Hard
limestone
Width 3.5
Thickness 1.6
Ovoid; worn and smooth; broken
 
121
1071
Pounder/
Pebble
Crusher/
Grinder
Calcite/
crystalline limestone
Length 7.2
Rectangular; at least two worn striking platforms; redness on the stone—evidence of ochre?
 
124
1070
Pounder/
Pebble
Hammerstone
Calcite/
crystalline limestone
Length 7
Rectangular; signs of perforation (design) and striking; broken
16:2
108
1062
Upper grinding stone
Operated
with both hands
Vesicular basalt
 
Three fragments with distinct dorsal surfaces, probably belonging to different tools
 
120
1073/1
Upper grinding stone
Operated
with both hands
Calcrete
Length 18+
Width 14.5
Thickness 5.2
End broken; perforated work platform; signs of striking and wear on dorsal face of tool
16:3
120
1073/3
Lower grinding stone
 
Limestone
 
Rectangular; two worn working platforms; broken
 
100
1055/2
Container
Grindingbowl
Smooth
basalt
Wall
thickness 1.1
Small fragment; signs of perforation on exterior; rounded rim
 
120
1073/4
Container
Grinding
bowl
Smooth
basalt
Thickness 1.1
Small fragment
 
110
1027
Container
Container or serving vessel(?)
Chalk
Thickness 3
Wall thickness 2
Straight sides extending to slightly convex base; signs of perforation on exterior walls
16:4
110
1028
Mortar
 
Hard
limestone
Diam. 13.5
Diam. of sump 8
Thickness 3.5
Wall thickness 4
Round outline; carelessly shaped; rounded rim; convex base; conical sump; broken
16:5
120
1073/5
Mortar
 
Limestone
Thickness 3
Small fragment; exterior carelessly shaped; smoothed and perforated rim
 
 

The remains and finds from the excavation join remains uncovered in the past of the settlement from the Chalcolithic period (Ghassulian culture) and EB IB in the western residential expansion of Moshav Beqo‘a (Golani and Storchan 2010; Golani, Storchan and Eirikh-Rose 2018). The mixture of finds in the excavation phases indicates that the EB I settlement was built directly on the remains of the Chalcolithic settlement and penetrated it. The Phase II ovoid structure, similar to those known from EB IA, as well as a few pottery sherds that may be attributed to this period, possibly reveal, for the first time, an additional chronological phase at the site.