The Eastern Slope
An agricultural area (100 × 250 m) is located on the eastern slope. It is surrounded by a stone fence (length 30 m, width 1 m) and includes dozens of farming terraces, stone clearance heaps and caves. On the upper part of the slope, beyond the limits of the excavation, a field tower (4.5 × 4. 5 m) was documented. Five shallow farming terraces (height c. 0.5 m) were excavated; their walls were founded on bedrock and their fill consisted of tamped soil and small stones: Farming Terrace 106 (0.6 × 1.0 × 8.0 m; Fig. 1); Farming Terrace 108 (0.6 × 0.8 × 8.0 m; Figs. 2, 3); Farming Terrace 110 (length 3.5 m, width 0.5 m; Figs. 4, 5); Farming Terrace 113 (length 7 m; Figs. 6, 7) and Farming Terrace W114 (length 8 m; Figs. 8, 9).
A probe within the stone clearance heap (L109; 0.6 × 3.0 × 8.0 m; Fig. 10) revealed that the heap comprised a mixture of small stones and soil. Similar heaps occurred in the precincts of cultivation plots.
A rock-cutting (L105; diam. c. 2 m, depth c. 1 m; Figs. 11, 12) was hewn in the center of a nari bedrock surface (15 × 20 m). It seems that bedrock surfaces with rock-cuttings in their centers were located in agricultural areas and meant for planting trees.
A natural cave (L107) that had no signs of usage was discovered during earthmoving works.
Burial Cave (L111; Fig. 13). The inside of the cave (1.5 × 3.0 × 4.0 m) was enlarged for later use. A corridor (2 × 5 m) in the front of the cave led to an opening whose upper part was arched (1.0 × 1.4 m). A probe excavated inside the cave revealed organic material (thickness 0.2 m) that contained fragments of pottery vessels from the Byzantine period on the bedrock floor.
The opening of another natural cave was made narrower by a stone wall (L112; 3.5 × 4.5 × 2.2 m). A probe that was excavated inside the cave exposed a thin layer of organic material on the bedrock floor.