Stratum III was a terra rosa soil layer, which contained a few fragments of pottery vessels from the Byzantine and Roman periods, and was excavated down to bedrock (Loci 13, 15, 22).

 

Stratum II consisted of a broad fieldstone-built wall (W17; width 3–6 m), oriented north–south and parallel to the contour lines of the hill. It seems only the core was preserved in the northern part of the wall. Wall 17 may have served as the foundation of a large building whose upper courses were robbed, or as a terrace wall that retained the land along the foot of the hill. The layer of soil that accumulated after the wall was no longer in use contained pottery vessels, dating mostly to the end of the Byzantine period (sixth century CE; Fig. 2:1–5) and the beginning of the Early Islamic period (the Umayyad and Abbasid periods; seventh–eighth centuries CE; Fig. 2:6, 7), as well as a few glass vessel fragments dating to the end of the Byzantine period and the Umayyad period and four small nodules of industrial glass waste that point to the existence of a glass production center on the site. It was impossible to determine, however, if this was an industry where raw glass was produced or a workshop for the manufacture of vessels. Large tesserae which indicated industrial installations and small tesserae attesting to a mosaic floor of a public building were also found. A coin (IAA No. 102675) was discovered on surface outside the excavation area. It is dated to the second half of the seventh century CE, which was apparently the date of this layer.

 

Stratum I had an east–west oriented wall, perpendicular to the slope of the hill (W10). It was built of dressed stones, probably in secondary use, and was perhaps used for delineating tracts of land. Wall 10 was found entirely sealed within a layer of gray soil, which mostly contained pottery vessels from the Crusader and Mamluk periods (thirteenth–fourteenth centuries CE; Fig. 2:8–17), including fragments of three imported vessels from Cyprus and from Port St. Symeon ware, dating to the Crusader period (not illustrated). Pottery vessels from the early Ottoman period (fifteenth–seventeenth centuries CE; Fig. 2:18, 19) were also recovered from the soil layer, as well as fragments of glass vessels and a Crusader coin (IAA No. 102676; Fig. 4). The coin was struck in the city of ‘Akko at the end of the twelfth century CE. It therefore appears that W10 should be dated to the beginning of the Ottoman period.

 

In the period of time following the construction of W10 a rectangular area (L16; 0.5 × 1.0 m), enclosed by three meager walls that were built of medium-sized fieldstones, without any bonding material (W18, W19, W20), was excavated. The purpose of the structure is unclear. Its shape and direction could indicate it was built as a tomb, although it contained no finds to verify this suggestion, except for a few potsherds and modern objects.