Eighty-four findspotss were identified (Fig. 1), including quarries of the Roman and Byzantine periods, winepresses, field walls, a cistern, a limekiln and circular rock-hewn installations, as well as a flint mine containing evidence of preliminary knapping, probably dating from the Pre-Pottery and Early Pottery Neolithic periods. The findspots also include 11 natural caves (20, 23, 25, 27, 36, 51, 55, 65, 70, 91, 92) that were documented but yielded no finds. While dating the remains uncovered in the excavation is difficult, they seem to have been part of the agricultural and industrial hinterland of an ancient settlement located in the village nucleus.
Previous surveys and excavations were conducted in the surrounding hills (for background and references, see Kapul 2019; Shatil and Yaroshevich 2019).
 
Quarries. Thirty quarrying sites were excavated (1, 6–10, 12–14, 20, 21, 48, 60, 66–68, 71–76, 78–85; Figs. 2–5), and 25 additional as-yet-unexcavated quarrying sites were documented in the pre-excavation survey. Based on the numerous quarries and their extent, it appears that the entire hill was used for quarrying. Most of the excavated quarries were fully uncovered, revealing quarrying steps (height 0.25–0.35 m), a few undetached stones (e.g., in Quarry 13: stone dimensions 0.30 × 0.30 × 0.45 m), quarrying marks indicating two sizes of stones (0.4 × 0.7–0.8 m, 0.60–0.75 × 1.00–1.20 m) and severance channels (width 9–11 cm) that narrow as they deepen. The severance channels indicate that the quarrying method was uniform. The quarries are not deep, as they were evidently used to extract the uppermost rock layer—nari, a thin layer of semi-hard limestone, which is suitable for building stones. Once the quarrymen had exhausted the nari layer and reached the chalk layer below it, they moved on to work in a new area. This method explains the abundance of quarried sites on this and on nearby hills. After abandonment, the quarries were filled with soil containing a few potsherds. Most of the sherds (not drawn) found in the quarries and across the entire hill date from the Roman and Byzantine periods (first century BCE–seventh century CE). Roman- and Byzantine-period stone quarries are known throughout the empire (Gorzalczany 2007). Most of the ashlars quarried at the site were probably intended for the construction in the village of Yafi‘a, which was populated during these periods.
 
Winepresses. Eight rock-hewn winepresses—each comprising a treading floor and a collecting vat—were excavated (3, 11, 15, 49, 50, 52, 53, 61; Table 1); the collecting vats were found filled with alluvium devoid of finds. Apart from Winepresses 50 and 52, the treading floors had rounded corners, suggesting a Middle Bronze Age date (Getzov, Covello-Paran and Tepper 2020). Winepresses 50 and 52 are meticulously hewn and larger than the others, but they yielded no diagnostic finds.
 
Table 1. Winepresses
No.
Treading floor dimensions (m)
Collecting vat dimensions (m)
Description
Figures
3
1.7 × 3.2
0.8 × 0.8, depth 0.5
Asymmetrical southward-sloping treading floor; two cupmarks hewn on either side of the winepress (diam. 0.25 m, depth 0.1 m)
 
11
2.0 × 4.4
0.3 × 1.3
Hewn in a smoothed rock surface with several hewn cupmarks
 
15
1.8 × 2.0
Depth c. 1
A gutter cut at the treading floor’s southern end led to a round collecting vat; cupmarks were hewn on either side of the winepress
6
47
2.5 × 3.2
Not preserved
Slopes southward
 
49
1.2 × 1.7
0.45 × 0.90, depth 0.8
Southward sloping asymmetrical treading floor. Gutter cut at the treading floor’s southern end led to a collecting vat with rounded corners (depth 0.8 m)
 
50
2.8 × 3.6
0.9 × 1.8, depth 0.8
Semicircular collecting vat. Quarrying marks in the treading floor’s eastern part suggest it was enlarged
7, 8
52
2.3 × 2.4
0.8 × 1.0, depth 0.7
Several cupmarks hewn around the winepress
9, 10
53
2.0 × 2.3
0.7 × 1.0, depth 1
Asymmetrical treading floor
 
61
1.3 × 1.5
0.7 × 0.8, depth 0.5
Small cupmarks hewn beside the winepress
11, 12
 
Field Walls. The excavation uncovered seven field walls (32, 34, 38, 39, 43, 62, 87; width 1.0–1.3 m; Figs. 13, 14) dry-built of fieldstones of various sizes. The walls were probably used to retain field terraces or served as fences.
 
Cistern (33; diam. c. 1.3 m, depth exceeding 5 m; Fig. 15). A rock-hewn bell-shaped cistern was revealed, but due to safety concerns it was left unexcavated. Calcareous material that made up a leveled surface to its west probably came from hewing out the cistern.
 
Limekiln (5; diam. c. 4.5 m, depth 2.5 m; Fig. 16). A round kiln was excavated; its lower part was hewn into soft limestone, and its upper part was dug into the ground and lined with fieldstones. The kiln floor was leveled with a rounded step (width 0.3 m, height c. 0.3 m) hewn around its circumference. Burn marks were identified on the kiln walls. The kiln was filled with light-colored soil and with limestones of various sizes. On the surface around the kiln were remains of a wall built of two rows of stones interspersed with a dark soil core. A poorly preserved opening was identified along the western part of the wall. Crushed limestones were discovered around the limekiln.
 
Circular Rock-Cut Installations (22, 93; see Fig. 5). Installation 22 (diam. at top c. 0.9 m, diam. at bottom c. 1.4 m, depth 1.6 m; Fig. 17) contained a fill of light-colored soil that yielded Roman- and Byzantine-period jar fragments. No pottery was found in Installation 93 (diam. c. 0.5 m, depth c. 0.8 m). The installations were probably used for storage.
 
Flint Items
Masha Krakovsky
 
Quarry 74 yielded 34 flint items (Table 2; Fig. 19), most of which are of homogeneous dark brown flint. Almost no signs of abrasion are seen on the items, but they bear patination, and some had a double patina. Waste products, including primary elements, flakes, core debris, chunks and chips, comprise c. 47% of the total assemblage. Most common are tools (Table 3), all of which are retouched items; these include flakes, broken cores or core trimming elements and an unidentified fragment. The assemblage contains five cores for flake production (Table 4): two are on nodules with a single striking platform; two are on flakes, one of which is shaped like a discoidal core on a thick flake; and one is a fragment. Another core has two striking platforms and was used for the production of flakes and blades. There are no diagnostic items indicating a specific period, unlike an assemblage from a nearby excavation (Shatil and Yaroshevich 2019), which yielded bifacials, blades and blade cores dated to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic and/or Early Pottery Neolithic.
 
Table 2. Flint items
Type
Quantity
%
Primary items
5
14.71
Flakes
4
11.76
Core debitage
4
11.76
Chunks
2
5.88
Chips
1
2.94
Natural chunk
1
2.94
Cores
6
17.65
Tools
11
32.36
Total
34
100
 
Table 3. Flint tools
Type
Quantity
%
Retouched flakes
6
54.55
Retouched items
4
36.36
Retouched fragment
1
9.09
Total
11
100
 
Table 4. Flint cores
Type
Blank Type
Quantity
%
Single striking platform
Flake
2
33.33
Two striking platforms
Mixed
1
16.67
On flake
Flake
2
33.33
Fragment
Flake
1
16.67
Total
6
100