The excavation took place in a shop (Fig. 2), probably built originally in the Ottoman period. It began with the removal of the shop’s floor (L1), laid in modern times, and one square was opened (c. 2.5 × 5.0 m; Figs. 3, 4). Remains of a vault, a plastered installation and segments of walls and floors were exposed, dating from the Early Islamic period to modern times.
 
Vault (Fig. 5). The western upper side of a vault (L120) was discovered in the eastern part of the excavation. The accumulations of soil (L105, L107, L114, L115) covering the vault yielded mixed pottery from the Early Islamic, Mamluk and Ottoman periods. Stratigraphically, this feature was the lowest in elevation in the excavation, so likely it is the earliest relic, and was dated to the Early Islamic period.
 
Plastered installation (Fig. 6). Directly under the walls of the shop, the remains of a plastered, installation were discovered (L109, L112, L113; max. length c. 5 m, width 1.65–2.50 m, height 0.55 m). Its walls and floor were built of a layer of medium-sized and small fieldstones bonded with crushed limestone and ash (thickness 0.4–0.6 m) and coated with gray plaster. The eastern part of the installation was set on the remains of the vault, and on its upper part, in the southwestern side of the excavation, was a wide plastered surface (L102; width 0.50–0.75 m). The eastern and northern walls of the installation were coated with two layers of plaster containing chalk, ash, fine gravel and grog. The top layer (thickness 2 cm) was well smoothed, while the bottom layer (thickness 4–6 cm) was coarser. The presence of plaster indicates that the installation held liquids; it may have been part of a workshop of some kind. The installation continues south under the walls of the shop; its eastern part was severely damaged by the removal of part of its floor, possibly during construction of a later wall (W106; below). Pottery in the soil accumulation under the installation dates from the Mamluk period, which may also be the time of the installation. Numerous animal bones were found alongside the ceramic assemblage, mostly of sheep and goats, and a small quantity of cattle bones (Marom, see below).
 
Segments of walls. Three of four walls, (W103, W110, W111; Fig. 6) seem to belong to a second, smaller installation, built on the floor of the plastered installation, after the latter had gone out of use. The fourth wall (W106), in the eastern part of the excavation area, was built of one row of fieldstones, one face of which was worked. It was constructed in a pit dug into the floor of the plastered installation, over dark gray soil. Pottery from the Mamluk period was found in the accumulations of soil under it; the use of the wall is unclear. All four walls are probably contemporaneous, and seem to predate the construction of the shop.
 
Floors. Remains of two floors (L1, L2; Fig. 3: Section 1–1) were uncovered above the remains of the installation and walls; both had been dismantled during renovation of the shop, prior to the beginning of the excavation. The remains of Floor 2, made of small stone slabs (10–20 × 15–20 cm) were discovered in the southern side of the shop. Floor 2 seems to have been the original floor of the shop when it was built during the Ottoman period. Floor 1, c. 5 cm above Floor 2, belonged to the modern-day shop and was made of modern materials.
 
The finds. Three coins were found in the soil fill under the plastered installation (L107, L114, L115): a Roman provincial coin (IAA 161414) dated to the first half of the third century CE, a fals of the Ayyubid ruler of Aleppo and Damascus, al-Nasir Yusuf II (IAA 161412; 1236–1259 CE) and a small copper coin (IAA 161413), probably from the beginning of the Ottoman period (sixteenth century CE). The ceramic finds were varied, dating mainly to the Ottoman period, with a few items from the Early Islamic and Mamluk periods. In the soil accumulations that covered the remains (L100, L105, L108, L112) was a jar (Fig. 7:2) from the Mamluk period, as well as bowls (Fig. 7:5–7), a jar (Fig. 7:10) and a smoking pipe (Fig. 7:14) from the Ottoman period. In the soil fills under the plastered installation (L107, L114, L115) was a bowl (Fig. 7:1) from the Early Islamic period, as well as bowls (Fig. 7:3, 4, 8, 9), a jar (Fig. 7:11), jugs (Fig. 7:12, 13) and a smoking pipe (Fig. 7:15) from the Ottoman period.
Most of the animal bones were also found under the remains of the plastered installation (see below, Marom); they were apparently intended for use as fuel. The bones provide information about the dietary habits of the people at the site during the Ottoman period.
 
Animal Bones
Nimrod Marom
 
Numerous animal bones were found in association with the plastered installation dating probably to the Mamluk period. Morphological and metrological criteria were used to differentiate the bones of goats (Capra hircus) from those of sheep (Ovis aries); these two species constituted the majority of the bones discovered in the assemblage (N = 206). Cattle is represented by a few vertebrae and ribs (N = 5). The bones were not broken; 131 limb bones out of 140 were preserved in their entirety. The distribution of the skeletal remains (Table 1) reveals most of the bones as foot bones (metacarpals and metatarsals) and lower jaws, representing at least 30 individuals. Goats (N = 79; 56%) and sheep (N = 63; 44%) constituted similar percentages of the assemblage.
 
Table 1. Sheep and goat bones in the assemblage (NISP – all identified bones; MAU – minimal number of animal units
Skeletal Part
NISP
MAU
Lower jaw
75
30
Scapula
4
2
Humerus
4
2
Radius
1
1
Carpal
0
0
Pelvis
4
2
Femur
1
1
Tibia
3
2
Astragal
0
0
Calcaneus
0
0
Metacarpus
51
26
Metatarsus
41
21
Phalanx 1
20
3
Phalanx 3
2
1
Total
206
30
 
Analysis of the distribution reveals that ages of death of the sheep and goats based on tooth eruption and wear of the many jaw bones (Table 2) indicates a statistically significant difference (Fisher’s Exact Test P=0.02), by which the sheep were slaughtered at a younger age than the goats. Statistical analysis of the distal width of the metacarpals, which differs in male and female goats, indicates a bimodal distribution; thus, most of the bones (76%) are relatively small. The combination of the metrological and demographic data indicates that most of the goats represented in the assemblage were adult females, and only a few were males; together they represent a breeding nucleus typical of a traditional herd. Measurements of the sheep bones did not allow for a metrological analysis, but the age range seems to indicate young males intended for slaughter. If the bones in the assemblage are indeed a representative sample of males brought to Jerusalem for slaughter in the Ottoman period, it may be assumed that the supply of meat for the city came from mixed herds of goats and sheep, including female goats brought to the city for slaughter as adults, after they had been used in the city’s agricultural hinterland (probably for milk), while the sheep were raised specifically to produce a surplus of young males for the city market.
 
Table 2. Age distribution according to tooth eruption and wear (sheep and goats—bones not identified to the level of sex)
Age (years)
Sheep
%
Goat
%
Sheep/goats
%
1
4
10
1
7
5
8
2
11
26
0
0
18
27
3
18
43
5
36
24
36
4
9
21
6
43
16
24
5
0
0
2
14
3
5
Total
42
100
14
100
66
100
 
The skeletal parts found in the excavation, which consisted only of whole bones from butchering waste, indicate non-dietary exploitation. These bones may be associated with the installation discovered in the excavation: fat-rich animal bones (such as the leg and lower jawbones) were once used as an efficient fuel at high temperatures. It is possible that the cache of bones was intended for use as cheap fuel in some small industry during a period when the cost of wood was high.
 
The architectural remains in the excavation apparently represent five construction phases (5–1). The ceramic and numismatic finds in the fills above and below the remains and their stratigraphic contexts are not unambiguous, but they can be used to date the five construction phases to the Early Islamic, Mamluk and Ottoman periods and to modern times.
The vault in the eastern part of the excavation is attributed to the earliest phase (5), probably dating to the Early Islamic period. The plastered installation uncovered above the vault and under the walls of the shop is attributed to Phase 4. The Mamluk pottery in the soil accumulation under the installation may date it; the Roman provincial coin and the Ayyubid coin were also discovered under this installation. The four walls built in the plastered installation are attributed to Phase 3. The time of this phase is unclear, but it may be posited that it predates the construction of the shop, and therefore dates from the Mamluk or Ottoman periods. The shop was built in Phase 2, together with the row of shops on the street. Floor L2 is attributed to this phase and probably dating from the Ottoman period. Floor L1, the latest floor, is attributed to Phase 1, which was laid in the shop in modern times.