The remains exposed in the current excavation belonged to eight superposed settlement strata (I–VIII), dating to the Hellenistic (Stratum VIII), Roman (Stratum VII), Byzantine (Stratum VI), Umayyad (Stratum V), Abbasid (Stratum IV), Crusader (Stratum III) and Mamluk (Stratum II) periods and the modern era (Stratum I). Although the excavation reached a depth of c. 3 m, the bedrock was not exposed; hence, there might be other earlier settlement strata concealed beneath those currently excavated.
 
Stratum VIII (Hellenistic period). An accumulation of soil mixed with potsherds of the Hellenistic period was exposed below the remains of Stratum VII in the southern square.
 
Stratum VII (Roman period; second–third centuries CE). A floor was exposed in the southern square. Soil deposits above and below it were mixed with potsherds from the Roman period, belonging to vessel types known from the Galilee.
 
Stratum VI (Byzantine period; fourth–sixth centuries CE). Ashlar-built walls, flanked by habitation levels and floors, were exposed in both squares. Some of the floors consisted of tamped mortar mixed with potsherds, and some were paved with stone slabs. Two floors, one atop the other, were discovered in the southern square. The lower floor was tamped soil and the upper one was crushed lime overlain with a stone pavement. The two floors abutted a wall of hard limestone ashlars which was generally aligned north–south; the stones were beautifully dressed and the wall was meticulously constructed. A pillar with light gray plaster still adhered to it adjoined the wall. Two sections of a stone pavement were exposed in the northern square. One of the sections abutted a wall that was also built of ashlars and oriented north–south. A round limestone column drum (diam. 0.8 m, height c. 0.4 m) was revealed in a section that was excavated close to the balk between the two squares. Ceramic artifacts, including numerous imported vessels, were discovered in the stratum.
 
Stratum V (Umayyad period; seventh century CE). Part of a building was exposed on either side of the balk that separated the squares. A wall aligned in a general north–south direction was uncovered in the southern square. Another wall, aligned east–west, was exposed in the northern square; a built threshold was set in the middle of that wall. Between the walls was a tamped earthen floor, overlain with pottery vessels ascribed to the Umayyad period.
 
Stratum IV (Abbasid period; seventh–eighth centuries CE). A floor of lime mixed with mortar was exposed in both squares on top of the Stratum V floor and it probably belonged to the same building that was revealed in Stratum V. Fragments of pottery vessels dating to the Abbasid period were discovered on the floor.
 
Stratum III (Crusader period; twelfth century CE). Attractive building remains were discovered in the northern square. The corner of a building with wide walls (c. 1 m) was exposed in the western part of the square. Another wall, generally oriented east–west, was discovered in the northern part of the square. The walls were built of medium-sized limestone and flat basalt chips that were inserted between them for reinforcement; large amounts of gray cement mixed with soil was used in the construction of the walls, which were preserved c. 1.5 m high and their foundation penetrated into earlier strata. Tamped earthen floors were also discovered. Several architectural items in secondary use were found in the walls and accumulations above the floors. A wealth of finds was discovered on the floor, including animal bones and fragments of pottery vessels, among them bowls that were locally produced and imported.
 
Stratum II (Mamluk period; thirteenth–fourteenth centuries CE). Walls and floors composed of a variety of materials, including pulverized chalk, soil and stones, were discovered in the two squares. It seems that these remains were part of an extensive residential complex. Fragments of locally manufactured pottery vessels and several imported bowls were discovered in this stratum.
 
Stratum I (mid-twentieth century CE). Remains of a defensive trench (exposed length c. 5 m, width 0.7 m) that dates to the early years of Kibbutz Megiddo were exposed. The trench was discovered filled with stone collapse, boards and remains of tin barrels that used to line it. On the bottom of one of the metal barrels were pieces of a newspaper from 1949, evidence of the collective farm’s first years.
 
The building remains exposed in the excavation, particularly those in the Byzantine, Early Islamic, Crusader and Mamluk strata, which include ashlar construction and plastered pillars, shows that a well-to-do population resided in the site. The variety of imported vessels indicates that the residents had extensive commercial ties. Building remains from the Hellenistic to the Mamluk periods had not been discovered at the site since Schumacher’s excavations in the early twentieth century. The settlement from the Hellenistic period in the Legio-Megiddo region has not been identified yet; however, we know from historical sources that south of Tel Megiddo there was a city from the Roman and Byzantine periods—Maximianopolis, a Crusader estate (Leon) and a settlement from the Early Islamic period that existed continuously until the Ottoman period (Lajjun). It is possible that architectural remains from these settlements were exposed in this excavation for the first time. The numerous settlement strata that were uncovered one above the other corroborate the assessment from earlier studies, maintaining that the southern hill in Kibbutz Megiddo is a multi-strata archaeological site. 
 

 Schumacher G. 1908. Tell el-Mutesellim I. Leipzig.
 
Tepper Y. 2002. Lajjun – Legio in Israel: Results of a Survey in and around the Military Camp Area. In P. Freeman, J. Bennett, Z.T. Fiema and B. Hoffmann, eds. Proceedings of the XVIIIth International Congress of Roman Frontier Studies. Amman, September 2000. Limes XVII (BAR I.S. 1084 [1]). Oxford. Pp. 231–242.