During April 2008, a trial excavation was conducted in the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives (Permit No. A-5405; map ref. 22342/63137), prior to preparing new areas for interment. The excavation, on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, was directed by A. Nagar, with the assistance of I. Ohayon (administration), T. Sagiv (field photography), N. Zak (drafting) and R. Bar-Natan (pottery reading).
One square was excavated on a slope that descends to the southeast. Potsherds, not in situ and dating to the Early Roman period, were recovered from the square.
Bedrock sloping from west to east was exposed in the western part of the square and a concentration of small and medium fieldstones was revealed in its southeastern part (Fig. 1). The fill contained modern debris, including old rifle cartridges, a fragment of a porcelain plate and a tin can, as well as fragments of pottery vessels, not in situ, including bowls, cooking pots, jars and a jug that dated to the Early Roman period (first century BCE–first century CE), a variety of different size tesserae and a small white marble fragment.