During December 2004 a salvage excavation was conducted in three lots (241, 250, 251) in Moshav Aminadav (Permit No. A-4311*; map ref. NIG 21320–60/62855–85; OIG 16320–60/12855–85). The excavation, carried out on behalf of the Antiquities Authority and financed by the moshav, was directed by O. Sion (photography), with the assistance of A. Hajian (surveying) and E. Belashov (drafting).
Two small quarries and a farming terrace were exposed. The bedrock substrata that consisted of soft friable limestone of the Turonian epoch prevented the quarrying beyond a depth of one meter.
Quarry 1. A small courtyard quarry (2.1 × 5.2 m, depth 0.3 m, volume c. 3 cu m; Fig. 1). A quarrying channel (width 0.1 m) was discerned in the western part.
Quarry 2. A stepped quarry (3.5 × 6.0 m, depth 0.4 m, volume c. 6 cu m; Figs. 2, 3).
Farming Terrace. Located c. 15 m north of Quarry 1, it was part of a series of farming terraces built along the western slope of the spur (length 20–35 m, width 5–8 m; Fig. 4).
The quarries were small and the rock-cutting method used severance channels hewn around and below the stones. It was impossible to date the quarries and the farming terrace in the absence of any artifacts or a nearby site. Nevertheless, the rock-cutting method in Quarry 1 is reminiscent of quarries in the region that dated to the Roman and Byzantine periods.