During August 2005, an excavation was conducted in the Yattir Forest (Permit No. A-4565*; map ref. NIG 2072/5855, OIG 1572/0855), prior to the construction of the separation fence. The excavation, carried out on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority and funded by the Ministry of Defense, was directed by M. Haiman (photography), with the assistance of A. Freiberg (area supervision) and A. Hajian (surveying and drafting).
Four squares were excavated along a stone fence that delimited the northern side of an agricultural area (160×360 m), located on a slope. A section of the fence (W1–4; Figs. 1–9), which was built of one or two rows of different size fieldstones (max length 0.8 m) that were placed on bedrock (max. depth below surface 0.2 m), was exposed in each square. Shallow farming terraces (length 5–30 m, width c. 1 m, height c. 0.5 m) were visible within the agricultural area, which is characteristic of the Yattir region. No datable artifacts were discovered in the excavation; however, comparing the plot to similar plots in the region suggests a date in the Byzantine period.