Young basalt intrusions stand out conspicuously at the site, as well as qirton and conglomerates of ancient stream terraces, which are all easily quarried. Six excavation squares (A–F; total 150 sq m) were opened after probe trenches had been dug with the aid of mechanical equipment. Remains of a settlement dating to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B Period and Pottery Neolithic Period (Yarmukian culture) were exposed in Squares A, B and D. Alluvial deposits containing worn potsherds were found in the three other squares, which were devoid of any architectural finds.
Square A. Two round adjacent pits were exposed (Fig. 1). The southern of the two (L119; max. diam. 1.7 m, depth 1.5 m) was dug into the soft basaltic material and seems like a kind of step that led to the northern pit (L114; max. diam. 1.2 m), which was 0.45 m deeper and penetrated into the chalk stratum. A series of accumulations was inside the pits. On the bottom of Pit 114 was an accumulation of loose soil that contained bones and numerous flint artifacts, with a high frequency of tools. The flint tools, characterized by straight profiles and bifacial blades, included sickle blades, arrowheads and knives dating to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B Period. A higher layer in the pit (L111, L112) and the fill in Pit 119 (L120) are an alluvial accumulation that contained many small and medium-sized fieldstones, as well as fragments of pottery vessels dating to the Pottery Neolithic Period, which are ascribed to the Yarmukian culture. These vessels are typified by coarse fabric and geometric patterns, including a herringbone pattern (Fig. 2). The flint tools from this layer, whose frequency among the flint items is lower than in the accumulation from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B Period, included denticulated sickle blades, saws and arrowheads, many of which were microliths. In addition, many animal bones—some burnt and some cut—were found. It seems that the pits were used for storage, although they could also have been utilized as temporary dwellings, where food had been consumed and the resulting waste was not discarded outside.
Square B. A pit (diam. 0.8 m, depth 0.45 m) that was hewn in the layer of soft basalt and into the layer of chalk was exposed. The pit, which was apparently also used for storage, contained fragments of pottery vessels ascribed to the Yarmukian culture and flint tools from the Pottery Neolithic period, similar to those discovered in Fill 120 in Square A.
Square D (Fig. 2). Evidence of a burial was discovered beneath a floor in the square. The remains of a Yarmukian jar, which contained human bones, were found inside a foundation course of light brown sand.Although the jar was immediately reburied, without examining its contents, an accumulation of human bones that was exposed alongside the jar shows that the place was used for a number of burials. A pavement of large basalt slabs placed very closely together was exposed on top of the sand and the burial remains level, at a depth of several centimeters below the surface. The pavement was well-preserved in the western and eastern parts of the square, although some of the stones were lying on their sides, probably having been damaged by mechanical equipment during cultivation. The pavement in the center of the square had been removed when a probe trench was excavated (Fig. 3). On top of the pavement were several worn potsherds and a few flint items; it seems that the finds, which cannot be dated, were brought to the site along with the alluvium.
Squares C, E and F (total 75 sq m). Alluvium (thickness 0.40–1.47 m), which covered the bedrock and contained potsherds, bones and burnt stones, without any architectural context, was exposed. Only a fraction of the potsherds were preserved well enough to be dated to the Pottery Neolithic and the Early Roman periods; a few fragments of modern pottery vessels were found alongside them.