During September 2007, a trial excavation was conducted on Kaspi Street in the Talpiyot North neighborhood of Jerusalem, next to the Haas Promenade (Permit No. A-5255; map ref. NIG 221575–650/629300–75; OIG 171575–650/129300–75), prior to the construction of a residential building. The excavation, on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, was directed by A. Nagar, with the assistance of Y. Ohayon (administration), O. Barzilai (flint identification) and M. Smilanski (flint drawing).
An area of one and a half squares was opened on a slope covered with a thick layer of construction debris and modern refuse, after probe trenches dug with a backhoe indicated the presence of possible wall remains. The excavation (to a depth of 1.2 m below surface) ascertained that the remains were none other than a modern heap of medium-size flint stones within the refuse layer (min. height 0.6 m; Fig. 1).
The ceramic artifacts inthe excavation dated to various periods and were not in situ. A hand axe (5.80 × 11.04 cm, thickness 3.2 cm; Fig. 2), made of brecciated flint of the Mishash formation and dating to the Lower Paleolithic period, was found on surface. The hand axe was formed on a large flake by bifacial knapping along the base and right side of the flake. The left side of the hand axe was extensively flaked from the direction of the ventral surface, which was apparently intended to modify the tool. This artifact joins a group of hand axes that had previously been discovered in this region (B. Arensberg and O. Bar Yosef 1963. ‘Emeq Rephaim . MeTiqufat Ha-Even 4-5:1–17 [Hebrew]; N. Shalem 1938. New Prehistoric Deposits in the Land of Israel. Ha-Teva ve Ha-Aretz, Volume 5, Booklet 6 (No. 1111), pp. 257:51, 53 [Hebrew]; M. Stekelis 1948. Rephaim-Baq‘a: A Paleolithic Station in the Vicinity of Jerusalem. JPOS XXI: 80–97).