Pottery
Liora Freud
 
The pottery sherds that were discovered in the excavation were worn, and it was therefore difficult to identify slip or burnish. Twenty-three of the sherds are diagnostic, mainly small fragments of bowls and jugs (Fig. 6:1–13) and a few of a pillar-handle jar (Fig. 6:14) and a lamp (Fig. 6:15), both preserving an almost complete profile. The entire assemblage dates to the Iron Age IIB, but the parallels for the pillar-handle jar and lamp (below) indicate a date in the first half of the eighth century BCE.
 
Bowls. The bowls that were found include a shallow bowl (Fig. 6:1) of a type that was common in Judah in the Iron Age II, and has parallels in Stratum 12 at the City of David (De Groot and Bernick-Greenberg 2012: Fig. 4.1:14–16) and in Stratum III at Lachish (Zimhoni 2004b: Fig. 26.12:7–9); a bowl with a straight wall leaning out (Fig. 6:2), with parallels in Strata 10–12 at the City of David (De Groot and Bernick-Greenberg 2012: Fig. 4.2:9, 10); carinated bowls with a flaring rim (Fig. 6:3–6), some (Fig. 6:5, 6) bearing remains of slip and burnish, with parallels in Stratum 12B, Area E at the City of David (De Groot and Bernick-Greenberg 2012: Figs. 4.1:8; 4.48:13–16), in Stratum IV at Lachish (Zimhoni 2004a: Fig. 25.45:11–13) and at Tel ‘Eton (Katz and Faust 2012: Fig. 7:7); a bowl (Fig. 7:6) with parallels at Stratum III at Tel Lachish (Zimhoni 2004b: Fig. 26.3:23); and a bowl string marks on its base (Fig. 6:8).
 
Jugs. Among the jugs that were found are juges with a broad neck and a thickened, triangular rim (Fig. 6:9, 10) tha have parallels in Stratum 12 at the City of David (De Groot and Bernick-Greenberg 2012: Fig. 4.28:10); jugs with a simple or slightly thickened rim and a narrow neck (Fig. 6:11, 12); and a jug with an elongated body and a flat base, common in the Iron Age II (Fig. 6:13), with parallels in Stratum II at Lachish (Zimhoni 2004b: Fig. 26.16:2) and in Stratum 12 of Area E at the City of David (De Groot and Bernick-Greenberg 2012: Fig. 4.4:12).
 
Spouted storage jar (Fig. 6:14). This jar has two opposing handles, one of them the ‘spouted’ handle, that extend from the rim, and another pair of opposing handles that extend from the neck. Judging by its lower part, the body was elongated. The vessel has a ring base. This type is known from eighth-century-BCE strata, but appeared already at the end of the Iron Age IIA (Herzog and Singer-Avitz 2004:213). A decorated example with similarly positioned handles was found in Stratum 12 at the City of David (De Groot and Bernick-Greenberg 2012:86, Fig. 4.28:21). Two similar jars were found in Stratum III at Tel Lachish: one has an elongated body (Zimhoni 2004b: Fig. 26.42:9) ,the other—a spherical body (Zimhoni 2004b: Fig. 26.34:9). A pillar-handle jar with handles extending from the rim was found in Stratum IV at Tel Lachish (Zimhoni 2004a: Fig. 25.44:10). Two pillar-handle jars were found in a tomb (T15) from the ninth–eighth centuries BCE at Tel ‘Ira (Beit-Arieh 1999: Fig. 4.33:23, 24). The position of the handles on these jars is identical to that of the jar from Ramat Sharet, in contrast to the jars from Stratum VII at Tel ‘Ira, dating to the late eighth century BCE, where the handles akk extend from the rim or near it (Freud 1999: Figs. 6.59:18; 6.74:24, 25; 6.85:1). Similar jars were found also at Tell en-Nasbeh (Wampler 1947: Pl. 30:524–626), in Stratum A2 at Tell es-Safi/Gath, dating to the Iron Age II (Avissar and Maeir 2012: 372, SJ 504) and at Tel ‘Eton (Katz and Faust 2012: Fig. 10:4, 5). At Megiddo, a swollen jar with four handles that extend from the neck is ascribed to Stratum H3, which begins in the late ninth–early eighth century BCE and ends with a destruction that is attributed to Tiglath-Pileser (Finkelstein, Zimhoni and Kafri 2000: Fig. 11.46).
 
Lamp (Fig. 6:15). A lamp with a round base that is common in strata that date to the end of the Iron Age IIA, but is also found in layers dating to the Iron II (eighth century BCE). Similar lamps were discovered in Stratum III at Tel Lachish (Zimhoni 2004b: Fig. 26.36:8), in Tomb T15 at Tel ‘Ira (Beit-Arieh 1999: Fig. 4.33:21) and Stratum A3 at Tell es-Safi/Gath, which dates to the end of the Iron Age IIA (Shai and Maeir 2012:342–343, Pl. 14.18:4, LP2).
 
 
Physical Anthropology
Yossi Nagar
 
In the upper accumulation of terra rossa in the burial chamber (L100) were several fragments of long bone diaphyses. A humerus and fibula were identified, as well as a metatarsal bone. In the lower accumulation (L103), a fragment of a cranium and several postcranial fragments including a fibula, a collarbone (clavicle) and a rib were discovered. The bones were poorly preserved, but their proportions seem to indicate adult individuals.