Two squares (c. 40 sq m; Fig. 3) were opened, yielding three settlement phases (III–I) comprising architectural remains from the Iron Age II (eighth–seventh centuries BCE). In addition, stone vessels and flint tools collected from the surface indicate activity in the region of the tell during the Chalcolithic period and the Early Bronze Age.
 
Phase III was encountered only in a probe beneath Phase II. Remains of a floor paved with flat limestone slabs (L116) and overlain by an accumulation (L114; Fig. 4) were uncovered. A large limestone basin (L115; 0.30 × 0.65 m) with a hewn depression (width 0.3 m, depth 0.4 m) was unearthed among the paving stones. The depression was not fully cleared due to an accumulation of closely packed stones that could not be removed (Fig. 5). The installation was probably used for food processing. Potsherds dating from the Iron Age II, including a red-slipped bowl (Fig. 6:1) and cooking pots (Fig. 6:2, 3), were found above the floor.
 
Phase II yielded a wall (W111; width 0.75 m; Fig. 7) built of two rows of fieldstones and preserved to the height of a single course. Two floors (L104, L117; Fig. 8), each composed of limestone slabs of various sizes, some roughly hewn, abutted the west and east faces of the wall. The two floors represent two spaces within a building (L106, L113), but their function remains unknown due to the limited excavation area. The pottery above the floors was from the Iron Age II, and it included bowls (Fig. 9:1, 2), mortaria (Figs. 9:3, 4), a krater (Fig. 9:5), a cooking pot (Fig. 9:6), holemouth jars (Fig. 9:7, 8) and jars (Fig. 9:9–11).
 
Phase I. The excavation uncovered a massive wall (W110; width 0.9 m, length c. 4 m; Fig. 10) preserved to the height of a single course. It was built of two rows of medium-sized fieldstones with a core of small fieldstones. Potsherds dating from the Iron Age II were recovered from above the wall (L105); these included bowls (Fig.11:1, 2) and jars (Fig. 11:3, 4).
An accumulation (L102) containing pottery from various periods, flint tools, animal bones and a stone collapse (L103) was unearthed to the south of the wall; it attests to the extent of the modern damage along the tell’s southeastern fringes.
 
Flint. The flint assemblage (N=36; Table 1) comes mostly from was the surface within the excavation squares. It consists of knapping debitage, core debitage, cores and tools. The items exhibit minimal erosion, indicating that they were found in situ. Only a few of the items were diagnostic. These included a Canaanite blade (Fig. 12:1) devoid of retouch and gloss sheen; this type of blade is characteristic of assemblages from Early Bronze Age sites (Rosen 1997:107–109). Another diagnostic item was a sickle blade (Fig. 12:2) with a triangular cross-section bearing fine ventral retouch on one edge of the tool and sickle gloss on the other, which are characteristic of sickle blades from the Chalcolithic period (Rosen 1982). The presence of a blade core (Fig. 12:3) and blade-core debitage (Fig. 12:4) are also attest to Chalcolithic flint-knapping activity at the site (Rosen 1997:104–105). Although the assemblage is very small, it can be attributed to typical Chalcolithic and Early Bronze flint industries, attesting to an ancient settlement in the vicinity of Tel Parur and corroborating the survey findings (Olami 1981:39–40).
 
Table 1. Flint finds
Type
N
%
Chunks
7
19.4
Chips
1
2.8
Primary items
2
5.6
Flakes
9
25.0
Blades
3
8.3
Core debitage
4
11.1
Total debitage
26
72.2
Tools
5
13.9
Cores
5
13.9
Total
36
100.0
 
Stone artifacts
The stone assemblage recovered from the tell’s surface (N=5) consisted of three basalt grinding stones and two basalt bowls (Fig. 13) characteristic of the Iron Age.
 
Fauna
Zohar Turgeman-Yaffe
 
Ten of the faunal finds from the excavation identified (Table 2). The dominant species was goat/sheep; two specimens from gazelles and a single cattle bone were also retrieved, as well as a shell of a saltwater mollusk (probably Glycymeris nummaria) from the Mediterranean coast. The presence of domestic animals (sheep/goat and cattle) alongside game (gazelle) indicate that the settlement’s economy was based on animal husbandry, perhaps along with hunting. The small size of the sample was insufficient to distinguish any preference for specific body parts or age group.
 
Table 2. Faunal assemblage
Locus
Basket
Animal
Element
Bone part
Limb
Sex
106
1029
Gazelle
Mandibular M1
 
Right
 
103
1041
Gazelle
Horn
 
 
Female
102
1017
Sheep/goat
Radius
Proximal
Left
 
106
1042
Sheep/goat
Radius
Proximal
Left
 
106
1030
Sheep/goat
Radius
Proximal
Right
 
106
1030
Cattle
II Phalanx
 
 
 
106
1040
Sheep/goat
Radius
Distal
Left
 
106
1040
Sheep/goat
I phalanx
 
 
 
106
1040
Sheep/goat
Mandibular M3
 
Right
 
107
1033
Glycymeris nummaria?
 
 
 
 
 
The current excavation is the first to be conducted at Tel Parur. Despite its limited scope, it seems to point to a rural settlement that existed on the tell during the Iron Age. The settlement was probably part of the agricultural hinterland of Tel Yoqne‘am, and was one of the various settlements distributed in the region during this period, along with Tel Qiri and Tel Qashish. The flint tools corroborate the findings from previous surveys that indicate the site was occupied during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age periods.