During November 2005 a trial excavation was conducted at the “Ostrich Ranch” in Nahal ‘Ada North (Permit No. A-4639*; map ref. NIG 20280–90/71555; OIG 15280–90/21555). The excavation, carried out on behalf of the Antiquities Authority and sponsored by the Cross-Israel Highway Company, was directed by S. Mahajna, with the assistance of S. Ya‘aqov-Jam (administration), T. Kornfeld (surveying and drafting), T. Sagiv (photography), P. Gendelman (pottery), M. Shuiskaya-Arnov (pottery drawing) and K. Sari (Haifa District).
Four squares were opened at the site, which is located in the fields of Qibbu
z Regavim, along the route of Section 18 of Highway 6 (Fig. 1).
To the east of the excavation site two portions of the Caesarea-Legio Roman road had previously been uncovered (HA-ESI 118).
In Squares A1 and A2 a section of a road (5 × 10 m; Fig. 2) that was paved with small fieldstones was exposed. Curbstones were preserved a single course high on the western side of the road. A deviation along the western side of the southern section of the road was discerned; this was probably a result of erosion or some other reason that is not apparent.
In Square A3 a section of a road (5 × 7 m; Fig. 3) whose curbstones were preserved on both sides to a height of two courses was exposed. Here too the pavement consisted of small fieldstones.
Another section (5 × 6 m; Fig. 4) was exposed in Square A4 where the curbstones were preserved on both sides to a height of two courses, separated by a pavement of small fieldstones.
A number of probe trenches (Loci 101, 201, 303; Fig. 2) were excavated next to the shoulder of the road in order to determine its construction date. The finds from these sections included worn rims of bag-shaped storage jars (Fig. 5) from the second–fourth centuries CE.
In the excavation, portions of a Roman road (23 m), consisting of a fieldstone pavement founded on a tamped-soil roadbed that was set on bedrock, were exposed. The pavement was delineated on either side by curbstones. The road is dated to the second–fourth centuries CE, based on ceramic finds. It seems that the road, which runs in a southeast-northwest direction, intersected the Roman Caesarea-Legio road, which was previously exposed in two different excavations; however, it is unclear where it led.