During June 2006, an excavation was conducted near Trigonometric Point 252 (Permit No. A-4841; map ref. 1992–3/6451–6), prior to paving Highway 3. The excavation, undertaken on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority and underwritten by the Ministry of Construction and Housing, was directed by Y. Elisha, with the assistance of E. Bachar and the late S. Ya‘aqov-Jam (administration) and A. Hajian (surveying).
The excavation took place in a rocky region, along the southern slope of a hill, at whose foot Nahal ‘Aneva flows. The region had been used in the past as an IDF firing zone, the effects of which are clearly visible.
A pen was excavated and a stone heap was examined.
The elliptical pen (L10; 9.0×16.5 m; map ref. 199331/645149; Fig. 2) was built of large fieldstones (0.5–1.0 m) and preserved one–two courses high; it had no clear opening in its wall. Several body fragments of jars that could not be dated were found inside the pen.
Close to two dozen heaps of broken stones were found around the pen. One of heaps was examined and it was clarified that the stones had been piled on a bedrock outcrop. The stones were probably hewn at the site and prepared for delivery to one of the many limekilns, dating to the Ottoman period and the British Mandate era, which are located along the wadi channel.
A surface paved with small stones that proved to be modern was also examined.