During August 2005 a salvage excavation was conducted in Ramat Yishay (West), at the intersection of Ha-Oren and Ha-Narkissim Streets (Permit No. A-4574*; map ref. NIG 21560/73422; OIG 16560/23422), in the wake of damage caused to the ceiling of a burial cave. The excavation, carried out on behalf of the Antiquities Authority and sponsored by the Israel Electric Corporation, was directed by L. Porat, with the assistance of A. Shapiro (surveying) and H. Smithline (photography).
The current excavation is at the top of the hill upon which the settlement was built. Previous excavations at the site yielded remains from the Roman, Byzantine, Early Islamic and Crusader periods (
ESI 18:30–31; 20:25*–26*;
HA-ESI 117;
HA-ESI 119).
Part of a cave and a small quarry to its southwest were exposed (Fig. 1). An elliptical shaft (L102; 0.9 × 1.3 m) led to a burial chamber that was partially excavated (L101; 2.6 × 2.9 m; height 0.9 m). Part of its ceiling was preserved. The cave contained dark soil and fragments of pottery vessels that dated to the Intermediate Bronze Age.
Southwest of the cave was a quarry (L100; 0.5 × 1.7 m) in which the negatives of ashlar stones and their severance channels were discerned. Potsherds from the Roman period were found above the quarry.
The burial cave provided the first evidence from the Intermediate Bronze Age at the site, which previously yielded only later period remains.