The excavation took place near an unnamed tributary of Nahal Hazerim, 500 m southwest of its main channel, on the northeast edge of the Be’er Sheva‘ Sewage Recycling Plant (Fig. 1). Immediately to its north lies a large Chalcolithic site—Nahal Hazerim—which was surveyed by O. Shmueli and J. Vardi (S-480/2014). The site extends over c. 150 dumans between the two channels of Nahal Hazerim, near their confluence. The survey recorded pottery sherds, flint tools and groundstone implements, dating the site to the Chalcolithic period (late fifth millennium BCE).

Six shallow pits (depth less than 0.7 m), characterized by a dark gray soil that differed slightly from the surrounding matrix, were exposed in five excavation squares (Figs. 2–5). The remains were probably the lower part of pits, as it was evident that the entire area had been shaved down by modern activity. Four of the pits (L105, L106, L109, L110) and associated accumulations (L101, L104, L108) contained finds typical of the Ghassulian Chalcolithic culture.

 
Pottery. The small ceramic assemblage comprises 36 indicative sherds. These include fragments of five thin-walled V-shaped bowls with straight walls and a rounded lip (Fig. 6:1–3); a basin with a thickened, rounded rim (Fig. 6:4); six holemouth jars, five with a thin rounded rim (Fig. 6:5–8) and one with an inverted rim (Fig. 6:9); five jars (Fig. 6:10); a cornet base (Fig. 6:11); and six flat vessel bases (Fig. 6:12, 13). Some of the sherds are decorated with red-painted stripes on the exterior rim (Fig. 6:1, 3, 5, 10) and on the body (not illustrated). The absence of handles, which usually survive well and are easily collected, is noteworthy. The pottery is handmade of bright orange clay with gravel tempers, 2–3 mm in size in some vessels, such as bowls and basins, and 1 mm in most of the other vessels. Some vessels bear signs of finishing, probably on a slow wheel. The vessel forms, their decoration and features are typical of the Ghassulian culture of the Chalcolithic period.
 
Flint. Most of the retrieved flint are small flakes made on a variety of raw materials. The few tools include an adze (Fig. 7:1), a polished axe (Fig. 7:2), a drill (Fig. 7:3) and retouched flakes (Fig. 7:4, 5), as well as amorphous cores for the production of blades and flakes (Fig. 7:6, 7). The flint debitage is varied, including small and large flakes on a variety of raw materials, some of them primary flakes, as well as blades. The debris comprises only a very small amount of chips, while chunks are completely absent—possibly the result of the collection method. The tools and the flake industry are typical of the Chalcolithic period.
 
Stone Artifacts. The stone assemblage includes four spheroidal hammerstones of various sizes, made of flint covered with limestone (Fig. 8:1), a kurkar grinding stone fragment (Fig. 8:2) and two flaked items (not drawn), one of chalk and the other of hard limestone. These stone tool types and raw materials, reflecting production activity at the household level, are typical of Chalcolithic-period stone assemblages in the northern Negev.
 
The finds all indicate the association of the excavated pits with the Ghassulian culture of the Chalcolithic period (late fifth millennium BCE), of which hundreds of sites are known in the Beʼer Sheva‘ valley. The finds reflect the occupation on the southern margins of the large Chalcolithic settlement discovered on the banks of Nahal Hazerim.