Area A was opened along the southern fringes of the planned reservoir area, where a high concentration of worked basalt stones that formed a circle (diam. c. 1 m) was discerned on the surface. Numerous flint tools were observed in the vicinity of the basalt circle. The excavation of the circle revealed that the worked stones had been placed in a shallow pit (depth c. 0.7 m) and included only two distinct tools––two grindstones. The flint tools scattered in the area belonged to the Mousterian culture of the Middle Paleolithic period.

 

Area B (2 × 2 m), located west of the planned reservoir, was opened where a dense concentration of potsherds was noted on the surface. The excavation revealed the remains of a tomb, dating to the Early Bronze Age IV. The upper part of the tomb was apparently destroyed during the course of the development work. The circular-shaped tomb was hewn in the basalt bedrock and contained a dark gray fill that included potsherds and osteological remains. The condition of the pottery fragments and human remains indicated that the tomb was disturbed several times in the past.

 

Area C was next to Area A and close to the section created by the digging for the reservoir. Several large stones that appeared as the remains of a wall could be discerned in the section. A square (4 × 4 m) was opened, revealing a natural concentration of various-sized stones, resting on bedrock and devoid of any archaeological finds.

 

Area D (8 × 8 m) was opened in the southwestern corner of the reservoir after a concentration of potsherds was discerned on the surface. An archaeological level (0.4 m thick) that contained fragments of pottery vessels and flint implements from the Early Bronze Age IV, without any building remains, was exposed.

 

The tomb, the ceramic finds and flint tools from the Early Bronze Age IV (end of the third millennium BCE) indicate that the area was located on the fringes of a settlement, probably Horbat Zafzafot, which is east of the excavation area and where remains from the Early Bronze Age IV (Map of Har Tavor [41] and Map of ‘En Dor [45]:54*, No. 7), were identified.