During April 2004, a trial excavation was conducted at Mazor East, within the limits of the town of El‘ad (Permit No. A-4151*; map ref. NIG 19630–35/66310–16; OIG 14630–35/16310–16), in the wake of earthmoving work that exposed the ground. The excavation, on behalf of the Antiquities Authority and financed by the Henson Company, was directed by T. Kanias, with the assistance of E. Bachar (administration), A. Hajian (surveying), T. Sagiv (photography) and L. Yihye (GPS).
The excavation was conducted along the southern fringes of the Nahshonim Quarry. A built, elliptical limekiln was found and a water cistern was documented.
The kiln was in a very poor state of preservation. Its northern side that stood one–two courses high was the only surviving part (Fig. 1). The kiln utilized a natural bedrock depression and was built of undressed medium-sized indigenous fieldstones (length 2.5 m, width 1.2 m). Two layers of collapse were exposed in the kiln; the upper contained the stones used in the kiln’s construction (L100) and the lower contained a layer of ash mixed with lime (L101). Most of the ceramic finds came from the collapse layers and dated to the Hellenistic period. An ash layer, which was the only one exposed inside the kiln, indicated the installation was no longer in use after the first time it was operated. The kiln is part of a complex of installations located south of Horbat Mazor.