The Southern Square.

A section of a wall (W101) was exposed; its northern side was built of dressed stones, with a core of fieldstones, and its southern side was built of small fieldstones. The wall was preserved a single course high. Traces of lime mortar were discerned between the stones. Next to the northern side of the wall was a pillar (0.5 × 0.5 m) built of dressed stones. A similar pillar was opposite it, next to the northern section of the square. Between the two pillars was the foundation of a wall (W102) built of fieldstones and preserved a single course high. A beaten earth floor was uncovered in the western part of the square. A tabun built of small stones bonded with soil (L53) was in the inner corner of Walls 101 and 102.

 

The Northern Square.

A well-preserved pebble floor (L52) atop a bed of lime mortar was in the southwestern part of the square. North of the floor was a section of a channel (W103; Fig. 2) built of medium-sized fieldstones and covered with large jar potsherds and overlying fieldstones. The channel was paved with large body sherds of jars to prevent the accumulation of alluvium at its base. A ceramic pipe (diam. 9 cm) reached the channel from the southwest. The northern part of the channel had collapsed and north of the collapse, it was severed. The pipe and the channel appear to have conveyed rainwater from the roof of a building or courtyard to a water cistern located to the north. A large jar fragment, identical to those used to cover and pave the channel, was found below Floor 52, indicating that the floor and the channel were contemporaneous. The remains of a wall were discovered east of the channel; its orientation is unclear.

 

Fragments of pottery vessels dating to the Early Islamic period were retrieved from the excavation, including mainly buff-color ware, jars, a few bowls and small glazed bowls.