Area F

Architectural remains were discovered mainly on the west side of the area. Two construction phases were discerned.

The Early Phase. A wall (W422; Fig. 3), a tabun (L433; Fig. 4) and small round installation (L435; Fig. 5) were discovered. Wall 422 was built of two rows of large qirton fieldstones, without mortar, and a core of small fieldstones. All that survived of the tabun was a layer of ash denoting the boundaries of the installation and a few fragments of the clay casing. Installation 435 was constructed of a circle of small fieldstones (inner diameter 0.45 m, outer diameter 0.7 m). The absence of any signs of burning inside it rules out the possibility that it was used as a tabun.

The Late Phase. Four walls (W415, W428–W430) and sections of a plaster floor (L423) that probably belonged to one building (Figs. 6–8) survived from this phase. A layer of soil (depth 0.1 m) accumulated between the base of W415 and W422 of the early phase. The two walls were preserved to a height of one course and were similar in both their style and construction materials. It seems that W415 was the outer eastern wall of the building, as there were no other building remains or floors to the east of it. Walls 428 and 430 adjoined W415 at right angles from the west; between them was plaster floor 423. Additional patches of plaster floors were discovered between W430 and the southern boundary of the square, and to the west of W429. The similar construction style of the walls and the right angles between them indicate that they were a single complex, even though most of the corners were not preserved.

Among the ceramic artifacts dating to the Late Ottoman period were a variety of bowls (Fig. 9:1–4); four imported bowls, including a glazed bowl dating to the first half of the nineteenth century CE (Fig. 9:5) from Çanakkale in western Asia Minor, known for its pottery industry; two glazed bowls that date to the end of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries CE (Fig. 9:6, 7) from Didymoteicho in Thrace, which served as a pottery production center since the thirteenth–fourteenth century CE; a glazed porcelain-like bowl decorated with a floral motif in red or dark pink on a white background (Fig. 9:8), which was very common in Europe; a variety of kraters (Fig. 9:9–13), including many Gaza ware type kraters (Fig. 9:14–20); cooking pots (Fig. 10:1–5), among them types adorned with a punctured motif around the neck and ledge handles, common from the Mamluk period until the end of the Ottoman period; Gaza ware jars (Fig. 10:6); regular jars (Fig. 10:7, 8); a jar lid (Fig. 10:9); Gaza ware brik jugs (Fig. 10:10, 11); several fragments of large red-slipped tobacco pipes (Fig. 10:12, 13) that were common in the nineteenth and early twentieth century CE, one of which is embossed with a manufacture’s stamp (Fig. 10:13); and several hookahs (Fig. 10:14). The paucity of imported pottery finds is evident in light of the profusion of such artifacts in cities like Yafo, ‘Akko and Jerusalem, and is in keeping with the rural nature of the site.

 

Sections of two stone walls (W419, W426) were discovered on the eastern margins of Area F. They were crudely built, without mortar, and preserved only one course high. The pottery finds recovered from excavating the walls include items from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century CE. The walls apparently belonged to installations, fences or simple buildings in the village. A sewer pipe that led to a cesspit was unearthed in Sq F2, and several rifle bullets from the early 1940s were found in Sq F3.

 

Area G

Remains of a central building and fragmentary building complexes to its north and south were exposed.

The Main Building. Two walls (W526, W527; length 4–5 m, width 0.4 m; Fig. 11) were exposed. Their facades were built of partially dressed stones, bonded by solid mortar, and plastered. Between the two walls was a solid gray plaster floor (L520) that was founded on a bedding of pebbles and ground shells. A plastered opening (0.3 × 0.8 m), reinforced with coarse wooden cylinders set into the plaster (Fig. 12), was located in the southern part of W527. West of W527 were remains of another room (L530) belonging to the building. As in Room 520, its floor was plastered. Collapsed stones were found in the western part of the room. Among them were an ancient marble column base – incorporated in the building in secondary use –and iron items.

The Northern Complex. Two walls (W528, W531; Fig. 13) and a tamped-earth floor (L523) were exposed. The two walls were built of two rows of roughly hewn stones (average dimensions 0.2 × 0.3 m) and smaller fieldstones in between. Larger stones were used in the construction of the corner formed by the two walls. The walls survived to a height of three courses. Another thin layer of tamped earth lay beneath Floor 523, possibly an earlier floor, but in all probability the floor’s bedding. The alignment and construction style of the walls in this room were different than those of the main building, thereby indicating these were separate structures. 

The Southern Complex. Remains of three walls (W514, W521, W533; Fig. 14) built of different-sized fieldstones were unearthed. Two whole Gaza jars (Fig. 15) were found in the debris east of the walls. These walls were meager compared with the rest of the architectural remains in Area G, and may have been used as fences or in buildings that were not intended for dwelling. Another possibility is that the walls are contemporaneous with the architectural remains in Area F, and were not used at the time of the activity that transpired in Area G.

Another wall (W519) that had no clear connection to the building complexes was discovered in Sq G8. It was dry-built with rough masonry stones (Fig. 16). Along the course of the wall were collapsed stones from either the wall itself or another part of the building. Among the finds relating to the wall were sherds dating to the Ottoman period and more recent iron items.

 

A pit dug into layers of sand and filled with compacted soil was discovered beneath the collapsed stones in Sq G5 (L529; Fig. 17, and see Fig. 2: Section 1–1). At the bottom of the pit were two fragments of a round manual rotary mill (Fig. 18), of the type used through the first half of the twentieth century. The rotary mill was made of red granite, unlike most of implements of this type which were produced of basalt. Red granite is not indigenous to Israel, and it therefore seems that the mill was made from an ancient architectural item that was collected in the vicinity. Another fragment of a red granite manual rotary mill, along with a basalt one, were discovered in the excavation. The pit and the rotary mill can be dated to the Late Ottoman period on the basis of pottery sherds and a fragment of a large glass bracelet found in the pit. The absence of later items from the pit seems to indicate that it went out of use by the end of the Ottoman period.

 

The finds from Area G include Marseilles roof tiles and later cement roof tiles; pottery fragments, among them Gaza ware bowls (Fig. 19:1–4), cooking pots (Fig. 19:5), Gaza ware jars (Fig. 19:6) and Gaza ware brik jugs decorated with orange paint (Fig. 19:7, 8); large iron keys and a lock (Fig. 20); plowshares (Fig. 21); glass bottles (Fig. 22); glass and copper bracelets and beads characteristic of the Hebron industry (Fig. 23); tools (Fig. 24); sections of fencing; cutlery; part of a rifle and bullets from the 1940s (Fig. 25); and a worked piece of flint that was used in firing a flintlock (Fig. 26). It seems that the finds remained from the demolition of the houses in the Arab village. The amount of pottery sherds among the finds was rather small, probably due to the increased use of new materials in the first half of the twentieth century.