A salvage excavation was conducted in October 2002 on Har Giora (East), prior to the widening of the railroad track (Permit No. A-3755*; map ref. NIG 20750–810/62810–25; OIG 15750–810/12810–25). The excavation, on behalf of the Antiquities Authority and financed by the Israel Railway, was directed by I. Zilberbod, assisted by A. Hajian (surveying), C. Amit (photography) and N. Zak (drafting).
A limekiln (inner diam. 4.5 m; Figs. 1, 2), recorded in a survey, was excavated. The exposed upper part of the kiln was preserved almost in its entirety. It was built of two walls with a soil core (L8; thickness 1.0–1.5 m). The inner wall (W2) that stood nine courses high consisted of small fieldstones set on bedrock. The surrounding outer wall (W1), built on a soil fill, was preserved 0.7 m high on the east side and 0.35 m high on the west side. A fill of ash and stones inside the kiln overlaid a layer of lime (L10; thickness 1.0–1.1 m) that superposed a thin layer of charcoal (L11), which remained from the fuel used to heat the installation. A built conduit (L12; length 2 m, width 0.4 m, max. height 1 m) was discovered in the western wall of the kiln. It was apparently covered with stone slabs and used to insert fuel into the kiln and through which a bellows forced air inside to fan the flames.