The current survey and excavation were conducted on the east side of the northern slope of Mount Zevul, revealing caves and rock cavities, including a stalactite cave. The survey retrieved a few flint tools from the Middle Paleolithic period (250,000–45,000 BP), indicating the possibility that a prehistoric site existed in one or more of the surveyed cavities. Four cavities (A–D) and a cave (E) were excavated.
 
Cavity A (north–south width c. 12 m; Fig. 2) was filled with sediment.Due to safety considerations, only a section was cleanedto a depth of c. 6 m, exposing natural sediment with no ancient remains.
 
Cavity B (c. 3 m wide, c. 3 m deep; Figs. 3, 4). The roof of the cavity had collapsed in the past, and within the cavity there were some stalactites and stalagmites, attesting to karstic activity. Two squares were excavated down to bedrock (1 sq m each, c. 2.5 m deep), unearthing two layers. The lower layer (c. 0.3 m thick), deposited prior to the roof’s collapse, was a reddish sediment containing a concentration of animal bones including a skull belonging to medium-sized to large herbivores, indicating that the cavity once had an accessible entrance for animals. This layer was sealed by clusters of boulders from roof collapses, which also contained stalactite fragments.
The upper layer (c. 1.5 m thick), overlying the remains of the collapsed cave roof, consisted of a deposit of dark brown sediment that yielded flint items (Table 1). At the bottom of this layer were found a few bones of a medium-sized herbivore—a radius and two metapodial bones—as well as a molar, probably from a gazelle. After the roof collapsed, the cavity may have become a natural snare for animals who fell through the opening and became entrapped. The inner western part of the cavity remained unexcavated, and it may have extended into a large underground system.
 
Cavity C (c. 2 × 3 m, c. 1.5 m high; Figs. 5, 6) was found half full of sediment, which contained some stalactites and stalagmites. Three squares (1 sq m each) were excavated from the cavity entrance inward. An accumulation (c. 1.2 m thick) of sticky, dark brown sediment on the bedrock contained three knapped flint items: two chips and a core (Table 1). The core (c. 3 × 4 cm), abraded and covered with white patina, bears two hierarchical surfaces: a shaped striking platform and a reduction surface on its wider face; this may be an exhausted core. Another flint item, a scraper formed on a Levallois flake, was found in the survey at the entrance to the cavity.
 
Cavity D (c. 2 m wide; Fig. 7) was a rock fissure filled with sediment. As with Cavity A, logistical and safety considerations led to the decision to first clean the section in order to evaluate the cavity’s archaeological potential. A single probe (1.0 × 1.5 m) opened at the bottom of the section was excavated down to the bedrock. The excavation yielded two flakes and an amorphous core (c. 18 × 25 cm; Table 1) covered with pink patina and exhibiting three or more striking platforms. Also retrieved were burnt and natural flint chunks (5–10 cm average size) that retain no signs of working and are probably part of the natural indigenous rock.
 
Cave E (c. 10 × 15 m; Fig. 8) was damaged by the earthworks, and it was accessed after the removal of the collapsed roof debris from the central chamber. A few interconnected cavities were mapped to the north, west and south of the central chamber, and a lower cavity was identified beneath it. Stalactite and stalagmites were observed in all the cavities. No archaeological finds or evidence of human activity were identified, and the absence of sediment on the bedrock floor indicates that this was a sealed karstic cave prior to the current construction works.
 
Flint Assemblage. The majority of flint items collected in the excavation are products of natural fragmentation and combustion, and thus provide no information regarding human activity at the site. The preliminary survey yielded ten flint surface finds, all of which were man-made. In total, 31 items were classified as man-made (Table 1). About 50% of these (15 items) are chips with dimensions no larger than 20 mm. Apart from two items—a fragment of a tool from Cavity B and a Levallois point (Fig. 9:3)—all the flint items were considerably abraded; their edges were blunt and covered with patina, attesting to them having been swept into the site.
Diagnostic flint items were found only in the preliminary survey: two Levallois blades (Fig. 9:1, 2), a Mousterian point fashioned on a Levallois flake with bifacial scars (Fig. 9:3) and a Levallois core (Fig. 9:4). These items are characteristic of assemblages from the Middle Paleolithic period (250,000–45,000 BP), and they indicate the existence of a site from this period in the vicinity. However, the items are poorly preserved; three of them—the Levallois core, the Mousterian point and one of the blades—are covered with patina and exhibit signs of wear with noticeable blunting of the working edge. Their poor state of preservation attests to their prolonged exposure on the surface and that they were evidently not found in situ. The Levallois core is extremely worn, covered with a whitish-pink patina, and its distal end is broken. It was probably used to produce a target flake with a convergent shape.
Along with the Mousterian point, (Fig. 9:3), the survey yielded two additional tools (not drawn). One is a Levallois blade with bifacial scars, exhibiting partial, semi-abrupt retouching that removed patches of the item’s patina. The second is maintenance debitage from the rejuvenation of a core (ridge), demonstrating two stages of ventral retouching: in the first retouching phase, the striking nodule was removed and thinned, and in the second stage a notch was fashioned on the left side of the item with retouching that removed patches of the whitish patina that covered the piece. Of the three tools, only the Mousterian point had uniform continuous retouching prior to its patination. The other two show partial retouching, at least some of which may be the result of post-sedimental weathering and abrasion processes.
 
Table 1. Distribution of Flint Finds
Total
Surface level/
preliminary survey
Cavity D
Cavity C
Cavity B
 
 
%
N
%
N
%
N
%
N
%
N
19.4
6
30
3
66.7
2
-
-
6.7
1
Flakes
3.2
1
10
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
Naturally backed items
3.2
1
10
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
Maintenance debitage
3.2
1
10
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
Unmodified Levallois items
3.2
1
10
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
Levallois cores
6.5
2
-
-
33.3
1
33.3
1
-
-
Cores
12.9
4
30
3
-
-
-
-
6.7
1
Tools
48.4
15
-
-
-
-
66.7
2
86.7
13
Chips
100
31
100
10
100
3
100
3
100
15
Total
 
 
The excavation revealed that most of the sediments in the examined cavities were the product of natural sedimentation, without any evidence of human activity. The limited flint assemblage from the cavities similarly indicates that no human activity took place in them. Flint items collected from the surface during the excavation and the preliminary survey attest to activity in the area during the Middle Paleolithic period. The location of the archaeological layer from which these items came is not clear, but their poor state of preservation indicates that they may have come from some distance.