The entire area is covered with a layer of alluvium and tall dense vegetation is growing on most of it (Fig. 2). No new sites were identified in the survey, conducted on foot, and only a few worn potsherds dating to the Roman and Byzantine periods were found.
Thirty-six probe trenches (max. length 35 m, width 0.6 m, depth 1.1–1.8 m; Fig. 3) were excavated at intervals of 7–10 m for the entire length of the area. Each of the trenches contained an upper layer (thickness 0.5 m) of light brown soil that consisted of fieldstones and a few potsherds; an intermediate layer of packed, light gray soil with an abundance of gravel and small limestone pebbles; and limestone bedrock that was exposed at a depth of 0.7–1.5 m below the surface. No signs of archaeological remains were discovered in the trenches.