The excavation area lies on the edge of the abandoned village of Dalata. In the past, several architectural elements were discovered within the remains of the village, indicating the presence of a Late Roman–Early Byzantine period synagogue whose exact location is unknown. The finds included a relatively long and difficult to decipher synagogue inscription.

During the Middle Ages, Jewish communities continued to exist in Dalata, as well as in nearby villages, such as ‘Alma and Bar‘am, serving as a common destination for Jewish pilgrims. Dalata was occasionally mentioned in important pilgrimage literature and itineraries and its appearance in a letter uncovered in the Cairo Geniza attest to its active Jewish life.

 

The northern square comprised sterile alluvial soil above bedrock, with no antiquities.

 

Stratum 3. Although occasional small worn potsherds, dating to the Late Roman and Byzantine periods, were found throughout the excavation, the majority were retrieved from the alluvium of the deepest excavated area (L105, L112). The potsherds, in spite of being small and extremely worn, suggest the existence of an unclear earlier occupation below the Stratum 2 structure (below). The base of Wall 114 could possibly be a remnant of such an early occupation.

Stratum 2 (Figs. 3, 4). The major construction activity was undertaken during the Late Ottoman period. Two parallel rooms (L109, L111) were unearthed. Room 111 was either a rectangular or apsidal room bounded on its northeast by W103, preserved 0.75 m high and based on the alluvium. It was uncovered for a length of 2.6 m, at which point it reached a large bedrock outcrop that was presumably incorporated into the wall. The continuation of W103 past the bedrock is unclear. It possibly joined W114, the branched-off inner face of W104, thereby, creating a rounded corner.

 

Wall 110 paralleled W103 and formed the southern wall of Room 111, separating it from Room 109. The confusing confluence of W110, W104 and its branch W114 in the northwestern corner of Room 109 was not elucidated by the end of the excavation.

Wall 110 was a poorly constructed internal wall that consisted mostly of rubble and was one stone thick (0.4–0.5 m). A doorway in its center was constructed from medium-sized cut stones with fine-tooth combing, typical of late Ottoman stone work (Figs. 5, 6). Room 111 and the doorway were paved with flat stones, basalt and limestone, set on the alluvium. Evidence of burning was uncovered on and around the pavement, leaving a thin layer of fine ash. The southeastern portion of Room 111 was buried beneath the Stratum 1 stone fill (L108). On the floor were a snub-nosed claw hammer, a small hoe, strips of rubber and decayed pieces of tin from cans and containers.

Room 109 was bounded by the southern face of W110, crudely constructed W104 and W113, which was built of rather flat stones, basalt and limestone, placed vertically widthwise. It appears to be a room divider rather than a full-scale wall. After a distance of 1.9 m, W113 was severely disturbed. The remaining area of the room was buried beneath the stone fill (L108). The finds from the room consisted of modern debris and Rashaya el-Fukhar vessel fragments.

 

Stratum 1. Nearly the entire square was covered with a fill of stones (L108; 0.3–0.4 m stone size; Fig. 7), among which were modern domestic debris and additional Rashaya el-Fukhar fragments.

The free of antiquities northern square suggests that the excavation was conducted on a parcel of land close to the village of Dalata but not within its core, where denser construction would have been expected. The structure in the southern square is dated to the Late Ottoman Period and, based on the character of the finds, possibly functioned in part as a workshop. Hints of earlier settlements on this site are implied by the recurrent appearance of worn Roman and Byzantine-period potsherds in the deepest areas of the excavation in the southern square.