The smallest quarry (R; Figs 2, 3) occupied an area of c. 10 sq m, whereas the largest quarry (D; Figs. 4–6) covered an area of c. 760 sq m. The area of most quarries ranged from 20 to 80 sq m (Quarries C, F, G, H, I, J, L, M, N, Q, S, T). The depth of the quarries ranged from 1.2 m (Quarries R, T; Fig. 7) to c. 7 m (Quarry D; Fig. 8). The signs of stone detachment and splitting bedrock were apparent in the quarries, indicating that most of the quarried stones were rather uniform in size (0.35 × 0.6–0.7 m). Larger stones (0.4–0.5 × 0.8–1.2 m) were probably removed only from Quarry E (Fig. 9). A count of the hewn steps and an examination of the rock-hewn severance channels enable to estimate that
c. 40 stones were removed from the smallest quarry (R). Several hundred to a thousand stones were detached from the medium-sized quarries, for example, c. 320 stones from Quarry G (Fig. 10) and c. 700 stones from Quarry C (Fig. 11), while thousands of stones were removed from the largest quarries (Quarries D, O; Fig. 12). A bedrock-carved cross (Fig. 13), exposed prior to the excavation, was discerned in the eastern corner of the northern wall in Quarry B (Fig. 14). The excavation of the quarries revealed a few ceramic finds that dated to the Byzantine and Early Islamic periods (sixth–eighth centuries CE), including bowls (Fig. 15:1–6), a cup (Fig. 15:7), a cooking pot (Fig. 15:8), jars (Fig. 15:9, 10) and a juglet (Fig. 15:11), as well as a potsherd bearing a stamped impression of a cross (Fig. 15:12), which is characteristic of bowls from the Byzantine period. Based on the ceramic finds, the carved cross in Quarry B and the stamped cross on the potsherd, it is assumed that the quarries were used during the Late Byzantine period. The many construction projects in and around Jerusalem during the reign of Emperor Justinian (sixth century CE) supports this assumption.
A limekiln (Loci 118, 126; diam. 4 m, depth 4.5 m; Figs. 16, 17) was exposed in the eastern part of Quarry A (Fig. 18). It was built on a layer of soil fill (thickness 1.2 m) that covered the quarry. The kiln was delimited by hewn bedrock on all its sides, except for a fieldstone wall (W3) on the southern side. The vent hole in the kiln faced west. The air flowing into the kiln’s center was delimited by Wall 1 on the south and Wall 4 on the north. The kiln’s date is apparently the Ottoman period.
Two parallel walls (W1, W2; Figs. 19, 20), generally aligned east–west, were visible along the surface between Quarries O and Q. Stone fill was discovered between the walls (L119), which probably delineated a rural road.