During December 2010, a salvage excavation was conducted in a dolmen north of Qibbuz Shamir (Permit No. A-6071; map ref. 26202/78633), in the wake of damage caused to it by the installation of a water pipeline. The excavation, undertaken on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority and underwritten by the Mē Golan association, was directed by O. Zingboym, with the assistance of Y. Ya‘aqobi (administration), H. Tahan-Rosen (drawing of finds) and M. Hartal (guidance). R. Bar-Nur, a member of Qibbuz Shamir, helped in the excavation.
The excavation was carried out in a rocky area of Delwa Basalt from the Odem flow,descending from east to west, until the foot of Tel Anafa. A single dolmen with a rectangular burial cell in its center, covered with a large basalt stone, was excavated (Fig. 1). Upon removal of the covering stone (1.7 × 1.8 m; Fig. 2), the burial cell (0.80 × 1.62 m), which was built of large basalt stones and aligned northeast-southwest, was excavated. The floor of the cell consisted of small stones that were used to level the bedrock surface (Fig. 3). After cleaning the floor, it was removed and the excavation continued down to bedrock (Fig. 4). A bowl fragment (Fig. 5:1) and the bottom of a clay juglet (Fig. 5:2) that dated to the Roman period were found in the burial cell.
The remains of two stone circles, whose plan is unclear, were found around the cell, and it is obvious they were damaged by a tractor working in the area.
It is evident that the burial cell had been plundered in antiquity, probably in the Roman period. The finds from the excavation are insufficient to draw any conclusions regarding the date of the dolmen’s construction.