Strata X, IX
Directly above the soil layer, a packed-earth floor (L1022, L1026, L1028; Fig. 2), strewn with an extremely large quantity of Iron IIA-IIB large potsherds, in situ and in the accumulated fill directly above it (L1023), was exposed. An additional packed-earth floor (L1020, L1021) overlaid the fill. No mud-brick or stone walls were found in the accumulated fill (L1023), apart from a row of variously sized stones (W1027), which resembled more the remains of a poor terrace wall. Nonetheless, it is clear that the Iron Age pottery was in situ, on two superimposed packed-earth floors, which may have been part of a courtyard between two houses, or of a building that once had mud-brick walls. The pottery included dozens of bowls, cooking pots and holemouth jars, with hardly any storage jars, an unusual composition of a repertoire, datable to Iron IIA-IIB. Ridged-rim cooking pots prevail, although a few triangular rims are present on both the lower and the upper floors.

 

Stratum III
A circular installation (L1030; diam. 1.5 m), built of three–four courses of small stones, was found dug into the Iron Age debris. It contained a few potsherds dating to the Middle Roman period.